


Legacy

by Nanocowie



Category: Project Wingman (Video Game), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: AU - Post-Calamity, Action Movie Logic, Eventual Harem, F/M, Mercenary State
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:42:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29771532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanocowie/pseuds/Nanocowie
Summary: Izuku thought he was just a quirkless kid. His mom looked after him, his friends bullied him, his father did... Something. But when there's a knock at the door from three people claiming to be his father's fellow mercenaries, he realized that he wasn't just a quirkless kid.He was the son of a Monarch.I finished Project Wingman and this came to me in either a fever dream or a drunk listening to the soundtrack. It turned into this and I didn't have time to arc it, so I'll post it as I have it polished.
Relationships: Hatsume Mei/Midoriya Izuku
Comments: 18
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, another post this month, I was surprised too
> 
> I love Project Wingman, I love Hero Aca, Mei gives me the heeby jeebies in my tight-whities and I needed to try and flex my degenerate muscles so here we are. Mostly an exercise in world-melding but also an attempt at OC work with Mizuka and a little bit of writing child characters. If you opened this, you probably know what Project Wingman is, so this is my Prez Best Girl moment before I move on.

A.D 2013: The first child with a Meta Ability is born in Quin Quin City, in what was formerly China

A.D 2201: Cordium, a highly volatile composite material, is found naturally in geothermal hotspots located in and nearby the Ring of Fire.

A.D 2203/A.C 1: The Ring of Fire explodes due to a chain reaction caused by an unknown source, detonating all uncovered Cordium deposits in the Ring of Fire. This sends the world into an ice age, and tectonic rupturing does not cease for approximately one hundred years.

A.C 89: The Mercenary State Meurta is formed on mainland Australia. Within ten years, and not without an attempted invasion from the Pacific Federation of Nations, Meurta has been declared a sovereign nation utilizing an oligarchic system, accepting representatives from various mercenary groups as member politicians.

A.C 409: A boy with no Meta Ability, or ‘Quirkless’, is born in the Musutafu Prefecture of the nation of Japan to Hisashi ‘Monarch’ Midoriya and Inko Midoriya. In 417, there is a knock on his home’s door.

Izuku looked up as his mother went to get the door. The delivery drone didn’t knock like postmen, and he didn’t think there were any large packages being delivered… She opened the door and greeted a trio in navy flight suits with a surprised expression. “Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met…?”

The one on the right, a man with sandy blonde hair and the characteristic caramel skin of the people of Cascadia, began with a sombre voice. “We are… Were, your husband’s flight team. Monarch, Hisashi that is, took a missile and well…”

Inko’s eyes widened as she took a step back. “N-No… No, h-his ejector should have…”

One of the two women, a young woman with tear filled eyes, shook her head sadly. “Monarch’s parachute got torn up on the way down, and… I-I’m sorry.”

Inko nearly collapsed only for the other woman to jump forward to catch her before she hit the ground. She pulled the woman into a hug, a few tears of her own in her eyes as she whispered quietly. “Shall we go inside? There’s more to say, and I’m sure you’d rather be sitting.”

The widow didn’t respond and the woman carried her inside as the other two stepped in behind her, closing the door quietly. Izuku couldn’t quite follow the conversation, but he stood up curiously as his mother was taken into the room. The man winced and couldn’t meet Izuku’s eyes as he whispered. “Damn it, even looks like him…”

Izuku tilted his head and asked as his mother was set down on the sofa. “You know my dad Mister?”

He gritted his teeth before taking a long, stabilizing breath and meeting Izuku’s eyes. His turquoise blue met Izuku’s emerald green as he gave him a small smile. “Yeah, yeah he was my boss. The name’s Peter Kennedy, but your dad called me Diplomat. Just call me Dip, yeah? Over there’s Comic, and this here is Prez. Nice to meet’cha kid.”

The woman now known as ‘Prez’ smiled as she knelt down to his eye level, reaching out to ruffle his hair much to Izuku’s childish consternation. “Your Dad took good care of me; he was a real stand-up guy. Izuku, right?”

Izuku nodded, wondering what had happened to his father. Was he unemployed now? Would he be coming back home from Muerta? “Y-Yes Miss, b-but my friends call me Deku.”

Prez giggled and replied, though there was still some sadness in her expression. “Deku eh? I like it, sounds like that Japanese word Dekiru. Damned if there was anything your dad couldn’t do…”

Diplomat walked up and put his hand on her shoulder, shaking his head lightly before turning to where Inko was sitting, her hands being held by Comic. He asked quietly. “Mrs Midoriya, do you want to explain it or…?”

Inko shook her head, still shaking like a leaf as Diplomat sighed and sat down on the ground, his back up against the sofa. Prez joined him, though she didn’t lean on anything, and Izuku took that as cue to sit down with them as well. Diplomat ran a hand through his sandy blond hair and began. “Izuku, your dad was a fighter pilot with us, the best in the business. He led our team of three as Monarch, and well… He died, fighting pirate forces off the coast of Sawaiiki.”

Izuku’s train of thought stopped abruptly. Dead? His dad was… Gone? His eight-year-old brain could wrap his head around the concept, but it was still foreign territory. Diplomat stopped to allow Izuku’s emotions to run their course, but before he could speak up again, Prez started with teary eyes. “I was his WSO, his co-pilot kinda. He used to talk about you all the time, y’know? Only thing he’d talk about, in the air or on the ground. Always said you’d be the only guy to beat him in the air.”

There was a long moment before both Prez and Diplomat’s heads dipped, small sobs coming from both though Diplomat tried to stifle them. Even Comic, who had been watching the encounter closely, began to tear up as Inko’s eyes began to stream once more. Everyone was looking down, lost in their sorrow over the dead man before they all stopped when they heard hair being rustled.

They all looked up to see a strange sight. Izuku, standing in front of Diplomat, patting his hair comfortingly with a wide smile on his face. It was clear that there were tears in Izuku’s eyes, but he still kept smiling as the man looked up at him in awed confusion. Izuku began with a small voice, but it was clear as day in the silent room. “W-We need to keep smiling, even when the times are tough. T-That’s what heroes do, right? A-And dad d-d-died fighting villains, right? S-So he should have been smiling too.”

Diplomat looked at him with shock before chuckling, rubbing the tears from his eyes as he nodded and replied. “Damn straight he was, he never gave up, even at the end. You really are his kid, y’know that?”

Prez wiped her own tears away with the hem of her flight suit’s sleeve before replying in agreement. “I know right? Never lets anything get to them, even when things were at their lowest. He’s just like Monarch, but somehow even shorter.”

At that both Comic and Inko giggled, and it was obvious the mother was doing much better after hearing that Izuku was handling the news better than she was. Comic, with pale skin reminiscent of the upper north American states, replied with a nod. “True that, the idiot could barely fit in the smallest flight suit we had. But before that, Dip?”

Diplomat nodded and shifted up and onto the other couch, motioning for Izuku and Prez to join him. They did so, and he pulled out a file and passed it over to Inko while explaining. “Sicario’s life insurance policy dictates a couple things. First is duty of care, he flew with us, so you’re under our wing. You can stick here and Finance’ll set up an account to feed you cash for the rest of your working life till retirement even if Sicario goes under. Though, second clause may make you reconsider that.”

Inko blinked in surprise as Comic began. “Sicario hires the best, and since you two weren’t estranged, we can only assume you two are worth an effort. Our boss, Kaiser, wants access to the kid so that when he grows up he could be an asset to Sicario. And your file tells us you’re not half bad with numbers?”

She nodded before sighing and gripping the file, biting back. “So, this Kaiser sends you three to tell me that his father is dead, and has the gall to invite him to train to go up as well?”

Diplomat nodded measuredly, knowing that honied words wouldn’t help in the situation. “Kaiser knows that it’s not in good taste but wanted to make the offer for Sicario’s sake. We wanted to tell you because it was always Monarch’s dream.”

Inko looked over to him sharply as Izuku gaped in surprise up at Prez, who smirked and replied. “Yep, half the time he was talking about you, it was about how much ass you two would kick as a father-son combo. Even said that he’d park a training plane outside this apartment on your tenth birthday, give you a full tank, and leave a note asking you to find your way to Sicario HQ.”

Diplomat chuckled at the memory before crossing his arms and continuing. “Rest assured that it wouldn’t be forced on him. Though, if you do accept, he’d have aviation tutors from touchdown, namely us. He doesn’t cut it or doesn’t want to do it for a living? Finance or engineering would gladly take him, he’d even have a place in our ground forces if he trained for it. Fighter pilot or not, Kaiser wants Monarch’s blood.”

She nodded slowly, reading over the file methodically as Izuku struggled to keep up with the conversation. Aviation tutors? These strange people were very nice, and he felt strangely curious about the suits they wore. They were kinda like Air Buster’s costume… Prez noticed his gaze and giggled, holding out the arm to him with an encouraging smile. “Standard issue flight suit for Sicario, pretty cool, right?”

Izuku didn’t respond, still taking in every detail of the suit as Diplomat chuckled, looking down at the action figures of various Japanese heroes strewn about. “You like heroes Deku?”

He looked up and nodded fervently, and Diplomat grinned and replied. “Y’know, in Muerta, there aren’t any heroes. We’re just mercenaries, and if there’s a bad guy, we all work together to take ‘em down as a team. One time, your old man and I took out a base full of smugglers using Muerta as a staging point. That was a good night, the girls didn’t even know we were gone ‘till we were back.”

Prez flipped him the bird from behind Izuku’s back as in one fell swoop, the boy’s admiration was taken from her. “Well, one-time Monarch and I did a tour of the coastline and found a bunch of pirates harassing cargo vessels. Four missiles and they were begging for mercy, man did Kaiser chew us out for that one.”

Izuku laughed at her haunted expression as Inko watched the proceedings closely. Masaru Bakugo wasn’t around Izuku enough to be called a male influence, and it seemed as if this man was rather responsible for a fighter pilot. And then there was Prez, she seemed like a pretty, smart young thing with a good head on her shoulders. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see Comic giving her a determined smile. “We didn’t act like it much, but Monarch was a brother to us. You give us one word, and you two will be sitting in the backseats of the fastest jets we’ve got back here.”

Her promise was replied to with a smile as Inko replied softly. “I’d… Be lying if I said I wasn’t scared, but I know I can’t keep him from his blood too long. Just teach my baby well, okay Evelynn?”

Comic’s eyes widened in shock before huffing and crossing her arms as Inko giggled. “Just like Monarch, too many goddamn surprises. Wanna ask the kid?”

Inko laughed as she watched Prez and Diplomat try to fight over Izuku’s admiration. The boy looked exactly like he did when he watched the hero news, and it was like the two had already taken All Might’s place. “I don’t think I need to.”

_Timeskip_

The sounds of engines, shouted voices and wrenches filled the hangar space that the Hitman team, plus Izuku and Inko Midoriya, coasted into. Behind them flew Diplomat and Prez, with Comic taking up the rear as the two civilians flew in the significantly more comfortable AWACS plane.

Izuku was near glued to the windscreen, trying to take in the sights as Inko watched him with a smile. It had been only a few days since Hitman team had arrived at their house, but in that time Izuku had sucked up as much information on mercenaries as possible, much like he’d do with heroes. In short order he’d endeared himself to Prez, though Diplomat and Comic had also introduced themselves on a more personal level with the family of their late lead.

Galaxy walked into their compartment as the aircraft came to a stop, smiling amusedly down at Izuku before nodding to Inko. “Ground crew’ll get your stuff to your new place. C’mon, Boss’ll want to greet you.”

She stood up and tapped Izuku on the shoulder, who looked up at her curiously. “Let’s go Izuku. Thank Mr Zaitsev.”

The boy clambered off the seat and bowed to the radio operator. “Thank you sir!”

Galaxy snorted and replied as the door opened, a cool air breezing into the plane. “No problem kid, just don’t give your mom any trouble, alright? Already easier to get along with than Monarch…”

The three walked down the metal steps and onto the concrete, the sound of engines getting louder as Izuku tried to take in all of it with frantic swivels of his head. A man walked up to them in a well pressed suit and held out his hand to Inko. He had short cut black hair and was just a bit taller than her. “Inko Midoriya, my condolences for your loss, and welcome to Muerta. Arnold Frenken, but please, call me Kaiser.”

She nodded as he turned to Izuku, extending his hand to the boy in an odd display though Izuku took it nonetheless. “And you’ll be Izuku Midoriya. Your dad was a good man.”

Izuku blinked before replying nervously. “T-Thank you sir…”

Kaiser chuckled and continued. “I’m glad that you two decided to come here, talent begets results after all. We’ll get you two set up in your new house in short order, it’s just outside of the compound, so not the worst commute you’ve seen eh?”

Inko smiled back, holding onto Izuku’s hand to stop him from running off to where the rest of Hitman team were speaking to the engineers. “I’m glad to hear that, thank you for your offer Mr Frenken. I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t use your callsign.”

He nodded and watched as the ground crew began to unload the cargo, mostly consisting of what Izuku and Inko had taken from home. “It’s no problem, I’m glad to have even this level of courtesy from you considering the circumstances. Do you want to get to your lodgings now? Or would you rather meet who you’ll be working under now? I’m certain Izuku here will want to- Or not.”

The boy in question had already escaped from his mother’s grasp to go and marvel at Comic’s jet, much to the onlooker’s mixed amusement and confusion. The two adults laughed as Comic looked particularly smug about Izuku’s choice as Kaiser noted. “Really is his father’s son. He’ll do great things when he’s older.”

Inko snorted and replied sardonically. “And you want to profit from said great things? Look how that turned out with Hisashi.”

Kaiser winced at the dig before replying honestly. “He’ll do what he wants here, don’t worry about that. He can take what he learns and go work for an airline if he wants to, but judging from that… He’ll be meeting Monarch’s legacy by the time he’s old enough to fit a flight suit.”

Inko sighed in defeat before replying sharply. “I won’t stop him from going up, mostly since I can’t, but you’d _better_ keep him safe. Remember, easy commute.”

He nodded, not replying to the implied threat as Comic walked over to begin explaining parts of the craft to him. It would be lying to say that he felt a little uncomfortable with raising a child to be a mercenary, but if there was any consolation, it was that he’d probably be damn good at it.

After a few minutes of questions and notetaking, Izuku finally relented as he was taken away to an open topped rover as the engineers began to laugh appreciatively. The newcomers rolled away out of the hangar as Comic was joined by Prez and Diplomat, who snorted as the woman looked out at the two with a plastered smile on her face. “Who’d’ve thought he’d be more interested in an attacker. I think he spoke more than Monarch did in all his time here.”

Comic snorted and replied. “Fuck off Dip, don’t need you bringing down the mood.”

He shrugged as he shot back. “Better not let Mama Bear hear you speak like that around Deku.”

Prez laughed and looked back up at the plane. It felt really weird knowing that the excitable kid was going to be flying with them after a few years, but the idea was starting to grow on her. Kinda like Monarch left his own little present for after he was gone. Watching Izuku nerd out about Comic’s plane had only solidified that he had the mindset for dogfighting, now they just needed to bring it out of him.

_Two days later_

Izuku yawned as he walked towards the barracks, the Sicario mercenary base already alight with activity as ground forces jogged along the runway and jeeps passed by him. His mother had pointed him in the direction of where he’d be going to school from now on, and the building looked completely different from his own school.

Stepping inside nervously, he saw someone sitting at the desk and they lifted their head at the sound of the door. She was pretty and had long blonde hair that stretched to the middle of her back. “Hey there kid, you’re Monarch’s boy?”

Izuku nodded nervously, wondering if he should be standing to attention before the woman stood up and greeted him with a small smile. “Mizuka Toga, I’ll be handling your education. We’ll just be working here, so come over and we can get started. Oh, just call me Mizuka by the way. I swear, if you call me Mrs Toga, I’ll kick your ass.”

He was slightly shocked by this, but didn’t object as he walked over and sat down on the chair she grabbed for him. There was enough desk space for them, but it seemed as if the side of the office he wasn’t working at was cluttered with papers and stationary. He pulled out an All Might themed pencil case and set it down, as well as a non-descript notebook that he kept specifically for his schoolwork.

Mizuka rummaged around in her filing cabinet for a bit before bringing out a fresh looking textbook and set it down in front of him. “U-Um, Miss Mizuka?”

She looked down at him in shock before snorting and replying. “I guess that’ll do, what’s up?”

Izuku gulped and asked nervously. “A-Are there no other pupils? O-Or… Kids?”

She stalled for a second, looking over at a small picture frame that Izuku hadn’t noticed until she did so. He couldn’t make out what it depicted, but she set it face down as she replied. “No, no other kids. You’re the youngest here, and Prez is the next oldest. Don’t worry about it though, I’m plenty fun. Now let’s get started with the basics of arithmetics, any idea what that is?”

Izuku shook his head and she explained, opening the textbook to the first page of problems. He recognized a lot of the symbols, and thankfully, it was written in Japanese. “Arithmetic is mental maths, being able to work out problems in your head, that sort of thing. Every pilot needs to be able to calculate stall speed, AOA, how fast their bullets go and the like. Just try and get these right without writing down your working, don’t worry about how fast you go, that’ll come later.”

He nodded, soaking up the information excitedly. So this was the kind of stuff his dad did? And if his dad… Died, fighting villains, then knowing this had to be important. Mizuka smiled down at the boy as she turned back to her own work, trying her best not to think about the picture she’d had to set away.

After about ten minutes Izuku nervously claimed that he was done, and his teacher went over the answers quickly before nodding and tearing the page out of the book cleanly and tossing the page into the bin. Izuku looked at her in surprise as he asked incredulously. “U-Um, Miss Mizuka? D-Don’t I need to get my score?”

She grinned evilly at him as she replied. “No, cause if you get any one of these questions wrong in the sky, your life is over. So, at the end of the day, I’m gonna assign you laps around the base depending on how many you got wrong. Get ready kid, welcome to Sicario.”

Inko was rather surprised indeed when Izuku stumbled back home at seven at night, thoroughly exhausted with a sheepish blonde walking in behind him.

The next day, thankfully, Izuku was fully aware of the horrors of being forced to run as a bunch of mercenaries laughed and sarcastically cheered him on as he ran around the base under the beating sun. Even Mizuka could only find one mistake in the entire thing, but she didn’t think she had the heart to tell him that he had a lap to do, so she just decided to add it onto the next time he made a mistake.

On his third day of schooling, as Izuku went through his Japanese lesson with the attention of a hawk, they had an unexpected visitor in Kaiser. He walked into the barracks and gave both a smile and a nod, as Mizuka responded. “Kaiser? Can we help you? Aren’t you busy with the next deployment?”

The boss nodded and replied with a smile. “Just thought I’d come and spare Izuku here your tender mercies for a while. We’ve got an hour before the engines ignite, and I’m sure he’d like to see Hitman off.”

Izuku’s eyes snapped up in surprise as Mizuka snorted and nodded. “Fine, just have him back here within five minutes of me hearing those engines whir. Off you go kid, leave your stuff here.”

He scrambled off to join Kaiser before the two walked out into the sun. The base was alight with movement, and Izuku near immediately asked Kaiser excitedly. “Where are you all going?”

Kaiser explained as the ground forces, known as Circus team, fired shots down an outside range into targets with pinpoint precisions from rifles. The man himself was in a flight suit, and Izuku didn’t know how he wasn’t burning up in the heavy thing. “We’re heading down to Sawaiiki again, we need to finish off the pirates that have been active over there.”

Izuku recognized the country with a small frown, and Kaiser watched his reaction carefully. He hadn’t had a chance to meet with the child again since he’d arrived and wanted to know how he was adapting to the bloody reality of a mercenary. He was mightily surprised when Izuku looked up at him with a begging expression. “Please don’t hold back Sir.”

He nodded and explained as with a single mechanical motion, every member of Circus reloaded their guns and resumed their rhythmic fire. “We don’t get to hold back, not in Muerta, not in the field. Our loyalty lies with the client and we will do whatever we can to make sure that the job gets done and our people come home. Izuku, you’re something of an icon for this upcoming deployment, so before you say goodbye to your friends in Hitman… Circus, at attention!”

With a snapping salute, the gunfire stopped, and suddenly Izuku found himself and Kaiser at the centre of attention. Kaiser saluted to them before calling out. “At ease ladies and gentlemen. Now then, you may have had the pleasure already, but this is Izuku Midoriya, the son of our departed Monarch.”

A few members of Circus lowered their heads, unwilling to look at Izuku out of guilt as the boy tried not to melt under the gaze. Kaiser continued with a small smile. “Now then, you lot will not have Monarch for support and those sons of bitches are the reason why. This is the next generation of Sicario you’re staring at, so when you stare down those pirate bastards with your finger on the trigger, remember…”

Kaiser’s expression turned murderous.

“They made this personal.”

Circus roared back their agreement as Izuku gaped at their show of solidarity. This was the kind of response the memory of his father could inspire? He knew he was a good pilot but what he’d done must’ve been amazing. He was shocked out of his thoughts by one of the members of Circus, a high ranking one judging from the chevrons on her chest. She knelt down in front of him and pulled a handgun from her holster, spinning it around until she held the barrel and the handle pointed towards Izuku. “Izuku Midoriya, would you fire the first shot for us? Just into the sun. Angelica Jackson, by the way, head of the Circus ground team.”

She looked up to Kaiser for a second, who only nodded his consent as Izuku took the gun nervously. Angelica stood behind him and put her hands over his own as he held the handgun, unlocking the safety and pulling back the slide to check and make sure there was a round inside. She helped him aim it at the sun before standing back and turning back to the Circus and screaming at them. “Salute! Within the week, we show those bastards who they messed with when they shot down Monarch! With his name on our lips, we scream our retribution!”

They all shouted back in agreement as Izuku stared up at the orange sun, the cool steel against his hand feeling alien as he stared down the sight. Angelica nodded to him shortly, and Izuku’s eyes couldn’t even close as he gritted his teeth and fired the shot.

It rang out, the bullet silhouetted against the sun for the briefest second before it fell out of sight. Izuku took a deep breath before lowering the gun, gently putting the safety back on before motioning to hand it back to Angelica before she just waved him off with a small smile as the rest of Circus began to march away towards one of the hangars. “Keep it, your father saved me and my men’s asses more times than I care to admit. You just hurry and grow up, alright? The sky’ll be scarier until you’re up there.”

Izuku looked between the gun in his hands, to Kaiser for a second, and then back to her. He gulped before giving her a determined nod, giving her a sloppy if heartfelt salute. “Yes ma’am!”

Angelica laughed before saluting back and turning to Kaiser. “I’ll see you there Kaiser.”

The man nodded and she marched off to join the rest of Circus as Izuku waved her off. Kaiser looked down at him with a small smile before motioning to the gun. “You know, that’s quite the honour she’s given you. It’s like her telling you that she’s putting her men in your hands.”

Izuku looked down at the gun again before replying with a small, amazed voice. “I hope I won’t disappoint her…”

Kaiser laughed before ruffling his hair fondly. That was telling, he wanted to serve in the military aspect of Sicario. “I’m sure you won’t. Now let’s get over to the fighter hanger, I’m sure Prez is going to try and sneak you into a trainer.”

They made their way over to the hangar and question and Izuku was amazed by the bustle of engineers rushing around the two planes of Hitman team. About fifteen people in flight suits were sitting on chairs in front of a projected screen as Galaxy went over the plan with them, though they all turned at their appearance. Kaiser leaned down and whispered to Izuku as he continued away. “Stay back, and keep quiet until we’re done. Pay attention too, it’s good practice.”

Izuku did so, though it looked like Prez was itching to stand up and rush over to him. Kaiser walked up and helped Galaxy present the briefing, only to call out soon after. “Alright people get in your seats and get ready to be airborne. If you’ve got words to say, say ‘em.”

It seemed as if nobody had any questions, and Kaiser nodded and dismissed them. Almost immediately Prez rushed over to Izuku and wrapped her arms around him, much to his surprise. “C’mon Deku! You can’t leave me with Dip, he’ll get us both killed! You’ll probably do much better than him anyways.”

The two pilots of Hitman joined them and Diplomat replied. “Really Prez? That’s harsh, thought you’d enjoy a break from the eight g manoeuvres. Also, who the hell gave you a gun?”

Izuku nervously shuffled in his feet as Prez looked at it in shock, almost moving to confiscate it as Comic laughed at the sight of the cute boy holding a gun. “U-Um, M-Miss Jackson gave it to me, she asked me to fire the first shot…”

That sent them all for a loop, only for Diplomat to smile and shake his head happily. “Finance’ll take you as a mascot before you even touch a flight stick. Ask Mizuka for a holster, she’ll get you one, though Inko’ll probably stop you from carrying a magazine. Now then, we’ll be gone for… Probably three weeks. Keep yourself safe, alright?”

Izuku frowned and replied nervously, a little teary at the idea of these three getting hurt. “But you guys are going to fight…”

Comic sighed and knelt down, ruffling his hair as she smiled widely. “C’mon, you said it yourself, a hero’s always got to smile. And since we’re heroes-for-hire, you’ve got to smile too.”

He sniffed back a few tears before nodding, giving Comic the widest smile, he had only for her to laugh and bringing him into a one-armed hug. “That’s more like it kid… You keep working hard, alright? We’ll be back before you know it.”

She let him go, only for Prez to immediately take his place. Izuku reciprocated the hug as Prez whispered. “What she said… We’ll see you soon, alright?”

Izuku nodded into her shoulder, and she squeezed him once more before letting him go. Diplomat knelt down to him and said amusedly, looking up at Comic and Prez pointedly. “I ain’t one for hugs kid but-“

He was promptly cut off as Izuku wrapped him in a hug, much to his surprise as Prez and Comic stifled their laughs at his surprised expression until he stiffly returned the hug before standing up and walking away towards his plane with Prez in tow, not saying another word. As Hitman team got into their planes and began to roll out onto the runway.

Izuku rushed out to watch in awe as a few people from the admin building also walked out to watch as well, including his mother. She walked over to join him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder as Izuku watched the planes take off with wide, bright eyes, waving all the way until his mother realized that her baby boy was holding a gun in his hand.

As he was trying to deal with her trying to take the gun away from him, Hitman team’s comms were unusually quiet without their usual pithy banter. It was only after an hour of flying over the ocean when Prez spoke up over the radio. _“So then Uncle Dip, going to bring back some good stories for him?”_

Comic snorted and continued. _“I know right? Come on Dip, you’re the only male role model in Sicario that ain’t Kaiser. Can’t spare him a hug without acting like the big man?”_

Diplomat was silent for a long time before he replied. _“Look ‘Mick, if you’re trying to ruin my mood right now, you’re doing shit.”_

Prez laughed as she replied with a triumphant voice. _“Knew it! C’mon you three, we’re the young prince’s retainers, can’t let him grow up to be a loveless husk like Comic after all.”_

She was pretty sure that stray missile from Comic a week later was less stray than she’d claimed it to be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> assessed presentation tomorrow, send luck

Eight slow, rhythmic shots rang out through the otherwise quiet Sicario mercenary base, before there was the scraping slide of an empty magazine from a handgun. Izuku let out the breath he’d been holding in as he pulled back the slide and made sure that there wasn’t an errant round. It was the end of his first week, and Mizuka had allowed him to spend some time learning how to shoot instead of divide.

It had been one hell of a battle to allow him to keep the weapon, but after Inko had been assured that he would never be carrying ammunition on himself, it was allowed. The woman had near torn her hair out at the thought of her baby accidentally blowing a finger off, but she had reluctantly agreed that it would be a good idea to learn how to shoot considering his quirklessness. Muerta was dangerous at the best of times, and the defenceless either got off the island or died from a roaming gang or the wildlife.

He slid rounds into the magazine methodically as Mizuka supervised him quietly, a good ten meters away at one of the lunch tables outside of the armoury. After a safety briefing, she’d told Izuku to sink as many shots as he could into his target before lunch time and wished him luck. It was as she watched him line up his sights once more when she heard someone approach and turned to see Inko walking towards her.

She was carrying a stack of lunch boxes and gave Mizuka a small smile as she sat down next to her and slid one over to her. “Hello, I imagined you two would want lunch soon. I hope I’m not being too presumptuous.”

Mizuka took it with a word of thanks, opening it up to see that it was higher quality than what the cafeteria served. Raising her eyebrow, she asked curiously. “You a cook or something?”

Inko laughed, pulling off her overcoat and laying it down on the bench next to her. With the heat bearing down on them it would be sweltering under it. “No, but thank you for saying so. A mother needs to keep on top of her game after all.”

Mizuka snorted, looking down at the meal again with a forlorn gaze. Inko opened her own meal as Izuku began to fire once more. “So, how is he getting on? Giving you any trouble?”

She shook her head, grabbing a portion of fried chicken and putting it between her teeth. Yeah, definitely better than the cafeteria. “As if he has the heart for it, kid’s a saint. Honestly expected him to break down from the workload or lack of friends his age by this point.”

Inko breathed a sigh of relief at the news. She had been wondering how Izuku would get along now that he wasn’t involved with Mitsuki’s girl, or those other ruffians that tagged along. All things considered; Hitman team were probably better influences than those three. “That’s good to hear. Are you a mother?“

They were both stopped as Mizuka’s chopsticks suddenly cracked under the woman’s grip. It was a few tense seconds later that she let out a long sigh and replied. “Yeah… Yeah, haven’t seen her in five years though.”

Inko was silent as Mizuka tried to calm herself, evidently that wasn’t a good topic to touch on. She was content to let it lie at that, but the blonde continued quietly. “My quirk made life in Japan hell. It’s called Werecat, gives me a transformed state but it makes me a carnivore and I need two kilograms of meat a day or else it activates itself and… Gets the meat itself. My daughter’s quirk turned out to be similar, and it all fell apart. Bastard of an ex-husband got me shipped out here, and Faine picked me up from the gutter.”

Inko nodded, remembering the name from the list of employees as the leader of Ronin team. “What’s… What’s her name?”

Mizuka smiled at the memory of her little girl as she replied. “Himiko, Himiko Toga-“

She was cut off as a shot rang out much louder, and dust kicked up at Mizuka’s feet. Both women snapped their heads over to where Izuku was aiming down the sights at her feet. “Izuku! What the ever-loving fuck were you thinking!?”

The boy was panting slightly, eyes slightly delirious as he kept his eye on where the bullet had landed. Mizuka stopped in her anger to look down at it, only to gawp as she saw the now eviscerated body of a large scorpion only a meter away. She turned back to Izuku only to feel a small body barrel into her, wrapping its arms around her waist and sobbing in terror.

Both women looked between each other before Mizuka sighed and put her head on Izuku’s head and stroked his hair comfortingly. “Kid… You know that thing wouldn’t kill me, right?”

Izuku didn’t respond and she suddenly remembered that he was still wearing his earplugs. Sighing, she went to take them out for him only for Inko to faint on the spot. Mizuka chuckled and took out the protection. “You alright kid?”

Izuku shook his head against her midriff, replying with a terrified voice. “N-No! What if you died!? I-I don’t w-want to go back…”

Mizuka blinked in surprise before asking quietly, helping him sit down next to her as Izuku tried to wipe the tears from his eyes only for her to help him with her sleeve. “What do you mean? Go back?”

He was silent for a long time, and she had to stop herself from hurrying him along. Eventually he embarrassedly explained, refusing to look anywhere his feet. “Y-You’re a nice teacher…”

She tried to discern his meaning for a second before remembering one of the darker truths of Japan. While they had the highest ratio of quirked to Quirkless people in the world, they were far behind when it came to integrating the less fortunate. A sudden cool grasped her heart as she asked. “Bullies?”

Izuku nodded silently and was shocked then when he felt an arm around his shoulder bring him into a half-embrace. He looked up with wide eyes to see Mizuka smile down at him comfortingly. “Well, if anybody here at Sicario does anything like that to you, come and find me alright? Though, if you can hit a scorpion from that distance, you’ll be able to take a ball of any of those idiots with a bit more training.”

Izuku went slightly green at the idea as Mizuka chortled, swinging her legs over the bench to return to her lunch as she pulled over the final box for Izuku. “U-Um, Miss Mizuka? I-Is Mom okay?”

She shrugged, grabbing another piece of chicken. “Eh, she’ll wake up soon enough. Now eat up. Can’t have you doing laps on an empty stomach can we?”

It was as the two ate and talked that Mizuka began to see the boy in a new light. At first, he had just been a responsibility, a thing for the barracks officer to do instead of lounging around, but the more that she taught him the more she began to recognize the potential he had. He was smart for a kid, and he managed to take out a scorpion on the first day of gun training…

Not to mention, he was downright adorable.

_Nine months later_

Izuku skidded to a halt outside of the barracks, breathing heavily as he stretched his back out until he felt his spine decompress. His routine had been cemented over the months, especially since Sicario didn’t have a winter or summer vacation. Perhaps unsurprisingly, children’s holiday rights weren’t the highest priority in the mercenary state, not that it would apply to much of it’s population. There were no state-run schools or hospitals, and the closest you would get is an orphanage in the large civilian cities but even then, those were notorious for being drug dens.

It was his ninth birthday, which meant he was only five years away from being able to sign on with Sicario’s military branch. He was excited for the day he’d finally be able to follow Hitman out into the field, but even if Muerta didn’t have many laws, child soldiers were less than accepted by the international community. After all, this was supposed to be the haven for mercenaries in the world, it wouldn’t do to garner unwanted attention. Half of the time a group wasn’t out on contract they were handling crime rings and trafficking routes to keep their neighbouring countries happy.

Izuku stepped inside and almost immediately he heard gunfire coming from all around him. Diving behind one of the couches surrounding a coffee table, he grabbed onto his handgun as his heart rate began to accelerate. Rifling around his pocket, he grabbed the one bullet Comic had snuck to him for emergencies and loaded it into the chamber, flipping off the safety. Whoever had come in here… Well, whatever group they were, he’d take one down. What had happened to Mizuka? The rest of the barracks? He’d seen Circus jogging in the morning, so where were they?

That was when he heard stifled laughter coming from the desk as the gunfire suddenly stopped. He peeked over the sofa and he felt a mix of childish anger and relief overcome him as he saw Mizuka, Hitman team and his mother sitting at the desk. Standing up he noticed the speakers placed at all four corners of the room as he walked towards the five.

Mizuka called out with a mischievous grin. “Hey Izuku! How was your-“

She was cut off as Izuku stamped on her foot with all the strength he could muster, making the woman yelp in pain. Prez blinked before asking nervously, wondering if she was next in line for his wrath. “D-Deku? You alri-“

Her question was cut short as Izuku grabbed Mizuka in a hug around the waist, a usual thing when he was upset. “Why would you joke like that!?”

Mizuka gritted her teeth, holding back any curses as she asked while trying to ignore the pain in her foot. “What’re you talking about?”

He began to sob as he explained angrily. “That you had been killed! W-W-What if you w-were…”

The boy broke down in sobs once more as Mizuka suddenly realized what his mind had jumped to. It was either a testament to how well they’d trained him to grasp a situation under pressure in nine months, or to what his kind heart immediately jumped to. She lowered her hand to his hair and stroked it softly, trying her best to calm him down as Inko shuffled uncomfortably, closing the window that contained the gunfire track they’d used on the computer as Prez whispered to Comic jealously. “Hey, was he not worried about us?”

Izuku peered out at her with a glare which, while adorable, still sent a knife stabbing into the woman’s heart as he muttered. “You’re not here in the morning dumbass.”

Everyone fell silent as they heard the innocent young boy use his first ever putdown, that was until Mizuka laughed and picked him up with a proud cheer. “Your first insult! I’m so proud of you Izuku!”

Inko sputtered for a second as she tried to keep up with what had happened, though it seemed as if Prez had completely shut down. Her eyes were hollow and her jaw was slack, and even a hand waved in front of her face from Diplomat didn’t elicit a response. “I-Izuku! Where did you learn that word!?”

He blinked and tilted his head, wondering what the problem was. “Miss Mizuka, she told me it meant silly.”

Inko glared at the woman dangerously, but she was too busy laughing at Izuku’s first ever insult. “Come on Inko, get a picture of Prez! That’s getting framed!”

Prez managed to shakily turn her head to Diplomat, her eyes begging for some kind of confirmation that what had occurred was just some kind of sick nightmare. “D-Dip? He… He didn’t call me a dumbass, right? Deku would never do something like that… Right?”

He grinned and shook his head apologetically. “Sorry, it’s true, you’re his first ever dumbass. There’s probably a therapist we can hire. Sicario’ll pay, right Inko?”

Inko was too busy sputtering in denial as Comic broke down into guffawing laughter, clutching her stomach. “Jesus kid! You are fucking hilarious sometimes, y’know that?”

Suddenly the room fell silent, and Izuku suddenly felt two hands cover his ears as Mizuka, Inko and Prez glared daggers at the recovering Comic. Diplomat took a few steps away from her as she asked. “What? What’d I- Oh no.”

She suddenly felt two pairs of hands grab onto her arms as Inko and Prez began frog marching her outside. The mother said quietly, with a promise of pain’s never before felt in her voice. “Come on Evelynn, I think we need to have a word about _language around Izuku_ , don’t we? Robin, dear, you prepare the special water.”

Prez nodded silently as Comic tried to call out to Izuku, only for Mizuka to turn him away with her hands still on his ears. Her only hope dashed, she lowered her head, awaiting her penance. When the two were outside, Mizuka let go of his ears and Izuku asked curiously. “Wait, where’s ‘Mick going?”

Mizuka giggled, sitting up on her chair and pulling him onto her lap. “Oh don’t worry about it, they’re just going to get your cake, right Dip? Happy birthday Izuku.”

Diplomat nodded along fervently at her pointed look, trying his best to avoid Comic’s fate. “Y-Yeah! Cake… Happy birthday Izuku.”

He thanked the man with a smile as Comic’s wrists and feet were tied to the metal fence surrounding the compound. Kaiser sighed, gripping the bridge of his nose as he watched Prez hand Inko a water hose and turned the valve. Comic’s blubbering pleas for mercy between spurts of water would become legendary among those present.

Kaiser walked into the barracks and asked the three still present bemusedly. “So, code green as you lot put it?”

Mizuka glared at him as Diplomat sighed in relief, glad that he was no longer the target in the room. Kaiser chuckled and walked over, sitting down in the final seat available as he nodded to Izuku. “Happy birthday Izuku, I was surprised to see you working out even today.”

The boy grinned back brightly and replied. “Thank you Sir. Just because it’s my birthday, I can’t slack off, right?”

Kaiser nodded in agreement and pulled out a small box from his pocket, wrapped neatly. “A lazy kid would use it as an excuse, please forgive me for the assumption. Here, decided to keep it saved for your first birthday here.”

Izuku took it in awe, opening it carefully to reveal an old MP3 player, a bundled cable and a pair of wired headphones. He looked the scuffed device over in curiosity as Kaiser explained. “Found this in your dad’s room, thought you’d appreciate it.”

He looked up at the man in shock before gulping, thanking him for it with a lump in the back of his throat as he turned on the device. It booted up, and Izuku scrolled through the music with an unreadable expression as Diplomat and Mizuka watched him carefully. As had been proved today, Izuku was quick to cry, and this kind of gift could set him off. Kaiser just leaned back in his chair, waiting for Izuku’s response before the boy just grinned and tapped one of the songs labelled ‘Fortunate Son’.

It began to play from the small speaker in the device, and Izuku took a few moments to listen to it before pausing it and hugging it to his chest. He looked up at Kaiser with a grateful smile and said breathlessly. “T-Thank you sir, i-it’s amazing.”

Kaiser reached over to ruffle his hair, smiling as Izuku laughed at the contact. “I’m glad you like it. A lot of Sicario thought that your dad was anti-social, too focused on his job. I was one of the few who knew he was actually listening to his music. Keep it charged, and don’t listen to it too loudly.”

Izuku nodded, setting it down gently as if it’d break. After a few minutes of silence, the door opened, revealing a particularly soggy Comic along with his mother and Prez holding a platter with a large birthday cake. After an amusingly terrible cover of ‘Happy Birthday’, where it took a pointed look from Inko to force Kaiser into singing along, they cut into the confection and dug in.

Once they had all finished and the plates were all set away, Izuku found himself being led over to where a large stack of wrapped presents. The quality of the wrapping varied wildly, but Izuku was floored nonetheless as he was handed his first package by Mizuka.

From the woman in question, a new holster made of high quality leather. It fit his pistol well, and Izuku decided to take the bullet so to speak for Comic when he unloaded the one round he had. After a strict talking to from his mother, she handed him a new pen and four notebooks with Sicario branding on them which he absolutely adored.

Finally, the three members of Hitman handed over their gifts. Comic smiled as she passed over a heavier package, and Izuku pulled off the paper to reveal a flight helmet. He gazed down at it in awe as he looked it over as she explained. “Your very own flight helmet; got it custom from requisitions. Prez?”

Prez handed Izuku a large, yielding package. He opened it up, only to gasp when he saw the same navy blue that those three wore. Lifting it up, he was ecstatic to see a flight suit his size inside. Finally, Diplomat turned to Mizuka with a small apologetic smile. “Sorry, mind if we postpone his lesson for today?”

She sighed in defeat but smiled when she saw Izuku’s pleading expression. “Fine but if he even gets close to the controls… Well, Comic’ll tell you what’ll happen.”

The woman shivered as Izuku cheered happily, and Inko took him away into one of the empty rooms to change. Kaiser chuckled as he watched the two go and spoke up as Mizuka prepared to take a picture. “So, is this the moment we find out he’s got no g tolerance?”

Prez snorted and replied with a raised eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Want to bet on that boss? He loves planes like his father, notices _everything_ like his father and is as dedicated to his training as his father. He never even got a medical, I say he finally gets rid of that last drop of blood that his dad had.”

Comic grinned as she sat down, finally drying out thanks to the arid air, giving her prediction. “He hits eight without the G suit.”

Diplomat shrugged and stood up, stretching out his back. “Alright, I’ll go and get the trainer on the runway. Don’t pinch his cheeks too much, eh dumbass?”

Prez stalled for a second as Comic and Mizuka broke down in laughs again, though Kaiser was completely lost. Eventually Izuku walked back out with his mother and was immediately tackled by Prez as Mizuka took enough pictures to make the paparazzi blush. Eventually he pouted and protested. “Prez! C’mon, I wanna fly!”

She cooed much to his indignation. “Aww he’s like a little Monarch! Okay Deku, head out to the runway, your carriage awaits.”

Izuku cheered and rushed out of the room, putting his helmet on as he rushed out. By the time they had followed him outside, he was already being helped up into the backseat of a T/F-4 by Diplomat. Once he was sat down in the seat, he was taught how to strap himself in and did so before his senior pointed out a few areas of the backseat cockpit. “Alright, don’t touch these controls. Hold onto these places if you need to, they won’t mess with anything. Yeah, get that oxygen mask on, Mizuka’s taught you about hypoxia right? Finally, lift this cap and hit that button to eject. If I’m unconscious for any reason, use it.”

He nodded fervently and Diplomat grinned, swinging his leg over to crawl into the pilot’s seat. After a few clicks, Izuku heard a voice speak up in his ear. _“Welcome to Hitman Airlines, I will be your pilot today. Turn off all devices and get ready for the ride of a lifetime.”_

Izuku was near bouncing in his seat as the engine began to rumble to life. He peered out of the window and saw a lot of Sicario watching with bemused smiles. The engine began to whirr loudly, and the plane began to roll down the runway. It continued to speed up, and Izuku watched a dial begin to tick higher until suddenly he felt a small lurch, and suddenly they were airborne.

He was near glued to the windscreen as Diplomat’s voice crackled in his ear again. _“Alright Deku, we’re going to do a couple starting manoeuvres. Just tell me if it’s too much for you. Also, your comms are always open so make sure to speak up.”_

Izuku gulped and replied, already loving the experience of flight. The ground falling away beneath him, the clouds getting closer and closer… _“O-Okay Dip.”_

There were a few minutes of climbing before Diplomat said. _“Starting our first one, should only hit a couple g’s. Just a parabola, so it shouldn’t be too bad.”_

Izuku could feel his body become slightly heavier as the sky he was previously looking at began to shift. He looked out at the world in awe as he felt his body become weightless. Those moments felt like the longest he had ever felt, like there was nothing else in the world. Even as he felt his body’s weight return to him, there was radio silence for a good while before Izuku spoke up with a pleading voice. Not excitable like he had been, but hungry for more. _“Dip… C-Can we do more?”_

Nothing came over the radio for a few seconds before the pilot’s laughter filled the radio. _“Kid, we can do as much as you like or I can handle. Let’s push it to three g’s.”_

The next few manoeuvres made Izuku gape, whoop, and cheer happily as the plane shot through the air like a buzzard chasing an imaginary prey. Diplomat stayed silent, just listening to Izuku’s reactions with a contented smile on his face as he remembered his old friend. _‘You’re watching, right Monarch? He’s at home up here, just like you were.’_

After about fifteen minutes, he spoke up again as they reached a long straight as they pointed back towards the base. _“Say, what say we give your mom something to lecture me about?”_

Izuku quickly replied, exhausted but excited. _“Let’s do it!”_

Diplomat grinned as he replied invitingly. _“Alright, but if we’re doing this, we’re doing it together. Grab the flight stick and follow my movements.”_

The boy did so, and his fingers curled around the stick which had been moving independently in front of him. He took a deep breath as it began to pull back towards him, and they began to climb quickly. The altimeter read 1000, 2000, 3000… And suddenly they were above the clouds.

Izuku gasped as he stared over the rolling planes of fluffy white. Diplomat was quiet as they continued to climb, until he spoke up with a challenging voice. _“Alright Deku, ready to turn this jet into a bullet? Don’t come crying to me if you can’t handle it!”_

Izuku grinned as he responded, the flight stick now pointing forwards as the nose suddenly pointed directly at the clouds which were becoming much closer. _“Alright!”_

The speedometer began to climb, and there was a loud boom as they shot past three hundred and forty three meters per second. They pierced through the thin cloud layer, and behind them a large hole was left in the cover as they dove towards the base. Izuku just laughed excitedly through the death-defying stunt as the jet pulled up, booming over the base and causing the windows in the office to rattle in their frames.

Diplomat was infected by Izuku’s laughter as he turned around, coming back into land. They rolled to a halt, and the canopy lifted as Izuku unbuckled himself. Diplomat hopped out and helped Izuku out of his seat. They both hit the dirt, and before he could get a word out, Izuku wrapped him in a hug. He sighed and knelt down, reciprocating the embrace with a grin. “So? How was your first flight flyboy?”

Izuku didn’t say anything for a long moment before replying with a wide grin, punctuating every word. “Best birthday ever. Thanks Uncle Dip…”

Diplomat stopped for a second, his mind racing as he thought about the new title. He wouldn’t admit it under pain of death, but hearing Izuku call him that made his heart swell. Redoubling the embrace, the man thought with a wide smile as the rest of the party walked over with Inko on the warpath. _‘Monarch, you bastard… Nothing you made should be this goddamn precious.’_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> presentation went well, hopefully.
> 
> to the reviewer that suggested i use irl jet names, I regret to inform you my military knowledge ends a few gun names and the name Harrier Jump Jet
> 
> next is Mei introduction, and the present should tell you who gets added to the harem

“All available combat units! Prepare for sortie, we have a situation!”

Izuku smirked, already in his jet. He watched the all-female crew engineers scramble around his jet, trying to fuel him up before he just waved them of and said in a cool voice. “Don’t worry, already sorted it. Wish me luck ladies.”

Their swoons of admiration filled the hangar as the canopy fell over him. He pulled on his oxygen mask as he guided the jet onto the runway with practiced ease. A voice buzzed to life on his radio, panicked and hasty. _“Midoriya! You can’t seriously expect to handle all of those units alone, even if you are our best pilot!”_

He scoffed cockily, his jet already rumbling down the runway towards the moon as it crested over the horizon. _“Oh please Galaxy, who do you think you’re talking to? Just tell everyone to stay in bed, and have a drink ready for me when I get back.”_

Izuku wrapped his hand around the flight stick as the speedometer hit one hundred knots. He pulled back on it, only to realize it didn’t budge. He tried to unjam it, watching as the metal fence of the compound got steadily closer and closer. It was too late, there was a warning alarm beeping in his ear! It was too late! “Ahh!”

Just before he hit the fence, he screamed as he woke up in bed. Groaning, his arm covered his eyes to shield them from the light streaming in from his window as the other grasped around for his alarm clock. Sitting up, he yawned as he stretched out his back and arms. Looking over at the calendar, he realized that it was July 15th, his fourteenth birthday. A large smile stretched over his face as his nightmare faded into obscurity.

Inko could hear the sound of crashing coming from upstairs as she giggled, bringing over a pot of coffee to where Mizuka and her husband of two years were sitting. The women in question had aged very well, and was leaning into Faine Kelleher’s, also known as Ronin Lead, side. “Looks like Prince Charming is awake.”

Mizuka snorted and thanked her for the coffee, sipping the brew appreciatively. “Screaming _and_ coffee? You guys have a next level wake up routine.”

Faine took his own mug as Inko sat down, replying. “It’s his fourteenth, he’s getting his contract today. Either that, or he can sense Faine is in the house. Do you reckon the others have his surprise ready?”

Mizuka took out her phone and checked her messages for a second before nodding. “Yep, and it looks like Kaiser has the contract ready and a fresh pen. Ready for your boy to become a man Inky?”

She laughed at the idea as she replied with a raised eyebrow. “Going by Hitman’s standards of a man, he’s more of a man than Peter.”

Faine winced and piped up. “Dip won’t appreciate that, but something tells me you’re avoiding the question.”

Mizuka slapped his wrist chidingly before Inko giggled and replied, looking down into the coffee with a contemplative gaze. “You don’t say… I’ve had five years to get used to the idea, why can’t I just… Let my boy do what he wants? He used to want to become a hero, but his quirklessness stopped him. He’s already a better flier than half of Gunsel…”

They were silent for a long moment before Mizuka explained quietly. “He’s following his father’s exhaust trails, the only issue is that those trails ended up in the ocean surrounding Sawaiiki. Izuku’s a smart kid, he’s been prepared.”

Inko sighed as they heard the shower spray start. It had been a short trip from when they’d arrived to this moment, and maybe she’d let herself pretend like they were still in Japan. She had an office job, Izuku was happy and healthy, his friends weren’t roughhousing with quirks and Hisashi… Hisashi was still gone. Mizuka had become one of her best friends, and even her motherly tongue had been sharpened around the woman’s wit.

Not to mention, half of the men in Sicario had made passes at her until Izuku caught whiff of the names of the suspects. When they’d learned that in only a few years, the son of the Japanese beauty they’d been pursuing was going to be their air support, they quickly reconsidered their innuendos and invitations. Inko smiled in amusement at the memory of Izuku staring down men twice his size, managing to get them to back down with a simple tilt of his head and a smile he’d cultivated over the years.

Soon after the sound of feet thundering down the stairs filled the house and Izuku turned the corner with his grin still plastered on his face. He’d grown up to be an absolute heartthrob according to Prez and Inko, with years of training having already melted away his baby fat to reveal the roughish charm that his father had wooed her with, though his eyes were still her emerald green with a boyish glint. “Morning sweetheart, happy birthday.”

Izuku grinned and replied, walking over while scratching the back of his still damp hair. “Morning Mom, thanks. Aunt Mizuka, Mr Kelleher, what brings you so early?”

Mizuka sighed as she asked beseechingly. “Happy birthday Izuku, and it’s been four years, can’t you let it go? Just call him Faine at least.”

The two men shared a look and Izuku shuddered, turning away as Faine chuckled. “Not a chance in hell, waking up in a cold basement with my hands tied behind my back was _not_ how I expected my tenth birthday to go. I can’t believe Prez still has me crying for her as her ringtone…”

Inko giggled at the memory as Mizuka and Faine snorted in amusement. Ever since his first botched birthday prank, they’d been upping it year after year. Making Izuku think he’d been kidnapped by Faine had been particularly amusing though they had been sure to make sure it never got to the point of him thinking one of them was dead again. “Come on Izuku, it _was_ pretty funny. Robin’s been riding the fact that you cried for your big sister first ever since.”

He groaned as his head hit the table, and Faine chuckled as he comforted him. “Don’t worry about it, I’ve had my own share of embarrassing moments thanks to Mizuka. Speaking of which-“

His mouth was covered by Mizuka, who gave him a pointed look before lowering the hand. “Speaking of other things, happy birthday Izuku. Hope you don’t mind if you get our present first?”

He reached down and pulled out a long case, setting it on his lap before passing it over to Izuku who took it with a word of thanks. The boy opened it as Mizuka explained warmly, grabbing onto her husband’s hand as she prayed to god that the gift would be received well. “You love your father’s music, and since you already have everything you need for aviation… We thought you’d like to try your own hand at it.”

Indeed, sitting on Izuku’s lap was an electric guitar with a unique green design that looked like camouflage. There was only one distinctive marking on it, and that was the yellow cat’s eye on the corner of it, an obvious reference to Mizuka’s quirk. Izuku closed the case and wiped a few tears from his eyes, setting it aside before walking around to accept the hug offered by the woman he considered his aunt. He could only vaguely remember another woman like this from his childhood, but she was a far off memory. In the past five years, Mizuka had been integral to where he was today, ready to get in the air. “Thanks Aunt Mizuka… Mr Kelleher…”

Mizuka nodded into his shoulder before letting him go, and Izuku took Faine’s pro-offered hand and they shook hands as the man said warmly. “Izuku, I can’t wait to see you in the field. Keep us sorry landsloggers safe, alright?”

Izuku laughed and nodded determinedly. “Yes sir, you can count on me.”

They released hands and Izuku went back to sit down as his mother returned from the kitchen, holding a large tray of breakfast, and setting it down on the coffee table. “Alright you two, you can argue about how long your barrels are and how well rifled they are later. Let’s eat up, don’t want to keep Frenken waiting.”

Izuku blushed at the admonishment as he grabbed a slice of toast and put it between his teeth. After a few minutes of eating, Izuku stood up first much to his mother’s amusement. “Alright, if we bore you so. On you go then.”

He grinned and went towards the door, taking his shoes off their hook and putting them on. Just as he went for the door, he was stopped as his mother walked over and turned him around, re-adjusting his collar. Izuku allowed her to do it, and after she’d finished, she sniffed and cupped his cheek with a proud smile, holding back tears. “Izuku… You look really cool.”

The boy leaned into the touch for a second before nodding. “Thanks… I’m off.”

He opened the door, walking out into the bright early morning sun as Inko waved him off. Once he had disappeared beyond the compound perimeter, she sighed and closed the door, resting her head on the cool wood for a second. Mizuka walked over to join her, setting a hand on her shoulder comfortingly but saying nothing. _‘Hisashi, watch over him, would you? I can’t help him past this point, it’s up to you…’_

With Izuku, he walked into the compound with his head held high as he walked towards the office building. Circus, on their usual morning jog, stopped in front of him and Angelica gave him a salute as Izuku returned it. “Morning. Everyone! Salute!”

Circus raised their firearms towards Izuku, but he didn’t flinch, just tilting his head with a grin. “Come on, this is the weakest birthday surprise I’ve seen yet.”

She sighed and motioned for them to lower their weapons. “If you were still the little squirt we knew you’d’ve pissed yourself. Well then, get moving. Faster you’re in the air the less work we’ll have to do. Happy birthday kid.”

Izuku smiled gratefully as he continued on his way. Reaching the building, he stepped inside and nodded to the receptionist, who motioned down the corridor with a knowing smile as he greeted him. “Kaiser is waiting for you. Welcome to Sicario.”

Walking down the hallway, Izuku knocked on the door at the end of the corridor and steadied himself. After a few agonizing seconds, a voice wafted from inside. “Enter.”

He gripped the handle and opened it in a quiet motion. Walking inside, he saw that it was only himself and Kaiser in the room, and the man had naught but a file and a pen on his desk. Kaiser nodded to Izuku and motioned to the chair across from him. “Please, sit.”

Izuku did so, crossing his hands on his desk as Kaiser asked. “So you want to join Sicario’s air force. You are aware of the risks and duties expected of you?”

Izuku nodded, replying shortly. “Yes sir.”

Kaiser noted something down on the file before looking back up to Izuku. The silent room, only punctuated by the scratching of the pen, served to set him at unease. “So then, your qualifications include two years of flight experience in fighter jets, private education tailored for dogfighting and aircraft maintenance for five years and living in a military environment for the same time. You come highly recommended by our own Hitman team, and despite having not flown in an area of engagement yet, you are highly trusted by our ground forces. And finally, your own father was our ace for the best part of seven years.”

The man closed the file and set it to the side with an amused smirk. “Thank you for humouring me, I just wanted to follow procedure. Izuku Midoriya, as leader of the Sicario mercenary force, I welcome you as a member of our air forces.”

They both stood up and Izuku sighed in relief, shaking his hand with a nervous smile. “D-Damn sir, that was intense…”

He waved him off, letting go of his hand as he responded. “I aim to please. Now, proceed to Hitman team’s hangar, you sortie in an hour. Go with the angels.”

Izuku’s eyes widened before he nodded in agreement, walking out of the office and rushing down towards the hangar in question. Walking inside, there was a cheer from the engineers as Izuku scratched the back of his hair with a grin. One of them called from underneath Diplomat’s MG-29. “Morning Hitman 3! Your warhorse awaits!”

He blinked in surprise before he noticed another occupant in the line-up of jets. Usually it was Comic’s F/C-15 and Diplomat’s MG-29, only changing out for long haul missions along with a trainer if Izuku wanted to go and practice. However, sitting at the back of the line-up was a new addition, one that made his heart soar when he saw Hitman team standing outside it.

Walking over, Izuku smiled as he caught a pair of keys thrown to him by Diplomat. “Morning your highness, ready to claim your throne? Coronations just around the corner after all. Happy birthday from Hitman.”

Izuku looked down at the keys with a grin before looking back up at the F/D-14 being loaded up with weaponry. “You guys… Thanks, for everything.”

Prez laughed as she slapped the side of the two-seater. “Don’t get sentimental on us now, you’re Hitman 3, our prince. Come on, don thy robe and survey thine kingdom.”

Sure enough, she grabbed a new flight suit and threw it over to him. Izuku took it with a grin and went over to the annex to change. Stripping off his shirt, he looked down at the flight suit, his name embroidered on the breast with a three-pointed crown underneath it. Putting it on in short order, Izuku sighed as he zipped it up, the unwieldy clothing feeling particularly homely as he set his other clothes into his locker.

Walking back out with only his MP3 player, his helmet and his keys. Going over to his new plane, he hopped up and into the cockpit and grinned excitedly as he looked over smooth finish. Comic explained proudly, leaning up against the hull. “Fresh from the factory, no point sending a fresh pilot up in second-hand gear. Let’s see if he can g-LOC Prez.”

Prez slapped her arm and scoffed. “Yeah yeah, laugh it up. Hey Deku, don’t mind if I change their IFF’s, right?”

Izuku laughed as he hopped back down. “C’mon Sis, they’re not _that_ bad.”

His secret weapon against the woman in question worked as she huffed, turning away but unable to hide the grin on her face every time she heard the title. After a few more minutes of joking around, they all stopped when they saw Kaiser step inside. The engineers all stood to attention before he waved them down, walking over to where the four were stood. “At ease. Now then, let’s debrief. I doubt we’ll need the projector for this so you’ll have to make do.”

They all listened intently as Kaiser began. “We’ve got reports from Muerta Central of piracy a few klicks from the north coastline, bearing 350. Four small assault craft have revealed themselves, trying to harass our imports and pacific trade. You three will go, however, Diplomat and Comic will _not_ be assisting in the situation. You two are to remain outside of effective missile range as the new hire handles it.”

Izuku nodded in agreement though it looked as if the others wanted to protest. Kaiser grinned at his reaction and finished off with a smile. “Take them out and be back in time for lunch, you’re free to launch. Good luck Hitman.”

They all saluted, and Kaiser walked off. Izuku almost immediately clambered back up into his cockpit as Diplomat gritted his teeth, asking incredulously. “I know it’s only four boats, but seriously? He’s not fought before…”

Izuku snorted and replied, his voice coming through the radio. _“Come on Dip, I know it’s hard but excessive worrying doesn’t look as good on you as it does on my Mom.”_

The man sighed and shook his head in defeat, walking over to get into his own jet as did Comic while Prez took a stepladder and got into the backseat. They got in, and in unison, the canopies dropped. Izuku sighed as he buckled in, ready to begin his first ever mission as Hitman 3. The jets began to roll out onto the runway as Prez’s voice crackled over the radio. _“So? What’re we calling Hitman 3?”_

Diplomat’s voice crackled through. _“I call Prince, gotta keep the family legacy going, right?”_

Comic spoke next. _“Yeah like that’ll stick, we’ll have to change it to Monarch soon enough. Deku, closest to a nickname we’ve got for him.”_

Prez continued with a giggle. _“I gotta agree with you ‘Mick, Deku sounds much better.”_

Izuku stayed silent as the flight of three took to the air. The jet felt smooth as butter as it’s wheels left the ground. With a giggle of delight, Izuku turned up the throttle as he spoke through the radio. _“You guys figure it out, I’ll meet you at the AO in the meantime. Galaxy, any updates on the targets?”_

The co-ordinator spoke through the radio as the coastline came into view. _“No change from what I can see, bearing 352 at current. God it’s a relief knowing Hitman team’s just tripled their effectiveness…”_

Izuku laughed as the rest of the team made their thoughts on the assessment known. Hitting a thousand knots, Izuku spotted the targets on the horizon and let out a breath he’d been holding as Prez spoke up worriedly. _“We can take it slow, I doubt they have effective anti-air.”_

Her answer was the sound of music playing throughout the cockpit, and she snorted as she realized what he’d just done. _“Remind me why we gave him an aux?”_

_(Next is written with Kaleidoscope by Area 11. Do with that what you will.)_

Comic and Diplomat broke off as they came within ten thousand meters, and Izuku’s eyes narrowed as his targeting computer locked onto the first boat. His first kill… Shaking himself out of the idea, he pressed the missile release button, sending one of the explosives racing towards the small boat. Izuku couldn’t see any people down there, but when he saw the cloud of smoke and flame erupt from it…

He grinned.

The computer got his next target and he fired again before pulling back on the flight stick, gaining a bunch of altitude before he cut the thrust and lined up the next boat with his nose gun. A quick burst turned the vessel into swiss cheese as Prez groaned over the radio. _“God damnit, I was getting used to Dip’s flying as well.”_

As if in response, Izuku gripped the throttle and maxed it out, rolling to bring them to parallel with the sea once again. They could only be one hundred up from the waves, but the music in the cockpit was pierced by a warning siren as Prez reported hurriedly. _“MANPAD fired from the bandit! Deku, evade!”_

He didn’t reply as he saw the exhaust of the ground launched missile. The black speck was getting closer and closer, but only a kilometre away, he fired a burst of gunfire, causing the missile to explode into a cloud of smoke. They accelerated through it, and Izuku could just see the pirate trying to reload the only defence they had against him.

Another missile fired out, and a few seconds after Izuku passed them, he heard an explosion from behind them. Sighing he leaned back up against his chair as Diplomat cheered through the radio. _“That was incredible Deku! Where the hell did you learn that!? Must’ve put grey hairs in Prez with that last one!”_

The music came to a halt as Izuku whispered quietly, not realizing his radio was still on. _“That… That’s it? Already?”_

They were all silent for a good while before Galaxy groaned through the radio. _“God damn it all, he’s more of a war junkie than Monarch… Alright Hitman, RTB- Hold, we’ve got incoming fast movers.”_

Izuku perked up as Prez confirmed, staring down at her radar. _“These IFF’s, they’re unknown. Hitman 1?”_

Diplomat began in a warning voice. _“This is Hitman One: Callsign Diplomat. Unidentified aircraft, identify yourselves and change trajectory, this is a policing action conducted by Sicario Mercenary Forces-“_

He was silenced by the six aircraft simultaneously sending out two missiles each, and Prez shouted in fear. _“Twelve locks on us! Hitman 3, requesting backup-“_

She was cut off as Izuku began with a tone that none of them had heard come from him. _“Belay that, Kaiser specifically said you two were to watch. Hitman 3, moving to engage.”_

There was a general scream of confusion over the radio as Izuku began to race towards the missiles. This was it, this was what he was trained for. Those boats were a warm-up… Now this, this was what he _wanted_. At the last moment, Izuku maxed the thrust and slapped his AOA Limiter, dodging out of the way of all of the missiles as he sailed past the six hostiles. His targeting computer was unnecessary as he sent two missiles into the first one, gunning down the second before they both nose dived under the waves.

He accelerated his thrust again, turning off the limiter as he got into position to attack the scrambling interceptors. Prez was shouting in his ear about… Something, but Izuku wasn’t listening. With another missile he forced his third target to decelerate, and another missile sent it exploding into the ocean.

The fourth was taken out as it tried to make another missile run, only to be met with a burst of gunfire that detonated the missile before it left the wing. Izuku got in place to begin his next run, and it looked like a game of chicken to the watching members of Hitman. The F/D-14 accelerated, and just as it looked as if they would crash, the two craft broke only for two missiles to hammer into the underside of the fifth.

The sixth jet thought better of trying again as Galaxy finally managed to get into their communications, only to catch the end of a conversation as it escaped the AO. _“… Send it up the line, The Crown is still active I repeat the Crown is still active. No mistaking that insanity…”_

Izuku grinned as he turned off the music, speaking up for the first time since the reinforcements arrived. _“So, my callsign?”_

There was a long moment of silence before Diplomat replied. _“You fucking idiot… Deku.”_

Izuku laughed as he fell into formation with the other two, much brighter now that an itch he never knew he had was thoroughly scratched. _“Did I never tell you? That name means Useless.”_

Prez suddenly spoke up in a mix of shock and anger. _“FUCKING WHO!?”_

He snorted at the first use of profanity the woman had ever used in his presence, he’d been clued into their little rule by Diplomat a year or so ago. _“Kacchan, old friend of mine from Japan. He used to kick my ass up and down the playground for having no quirk. I kinda like it as a callsign, better than Prince anyways. Call me Deku.”_

Comic spoke up with a curious voice as she asked, having heard the name before when Inko had brought out Izuku’s baby pictures. _“Wait, you mean Katsumi Bakugo? Your mom told us she was a girl.”_

The radio silence was deafening.


	4. Chapter 4

Izuku yawned as he hopped out of his F/D-14, the rest of Sicario also landing in the base and rolling into their respective hangars. Pulling off his flight helmet, he ran a hand through his short hair as the ground crew began to take stock of the nearly exhausted jet. Prez jumped out behind him, and Izuku held out his arms and caught the woman before she hit the ground. “Thanks Deku, always got my WHOA!”

He dropped her, letting her hit the ground much to her pout as she rubbed her aching bottom. “Come on Prez, you’re getting heavier every time…”

She stood up and replied amusedly. “Come on, you’re a strong young man. Can’t carry little old me?”

He sighed and stretched out his back, looking out as both Diplomat and Comic rolled into the hangar after him. They’d just come back from a campaign in the northern Eurasian territories, and had hit seventeen years old in the first week of the engagement. It had been his first time away from home, and the six months the engagement made him appreciate the warmth of Muerta. “Too tired for championship weightlifting Prez. I’m heading home.”

Before he could continue, he heard a voice speak up from across from them. “Not quite yet, sorry Deku.”

Izuku looked up and asked pleadingly. “Come on Kaiser, you make me handle that final intercept and you won’t even let me sleep? Cruel.”

Kaiser chuckled and motioned for Izuku to follow him. “Poor thing. I’ll throw in a couple thousand as overtime, will that appease his majesty?”

Izuku grinned and perked up as he followed his boss happily. They walked out into the night air and made their way towards the office building. It was empty apart from them, and Izuku took a seat in Kaiser’s office as the man in question set a machine to produce a pot of coffee. Once it was done, he brought over a couple mugs and the pot. Pouring them both a mug, Kaiser sat down with a sigh and spoke. “I had a communication on the way back. There was an incident in Japan, a genetically modified superweapon appeared at U.A university made to kill their number one hero, All Might. It was working under a guy calling himself Shigaraki, and the superweapon was called Nomu. The principal, Nezu, wanted some specialist assistance.”

Izuku frowned and leaned back in the chair, sipping from the coffee before replying. “They want Mercs? You’re asking me, not the Circus, so they want air support… What the hell kind of superweapon was it?”

Kaiser nodded and explained. “Multiple quirks, namely shock absorption, strength, regeneration and speed. It was designed to kill All Might, but he managed to take it down after a hell of a fight. It nearly killed a few kids, and thanks to the fact that the heroes on staff didn’t help much until after it was beaten, they want Sicario’s QRF capabilities.”

That was true, their reaction speed was renowned throughout Muerta. What worried him more was the part about multiple quirks. I-Island’s top researchers couldn’t manufacture more than two distinct quirks into a person, and that was if they didn’t obey the ethics committee. “Yeah, high quality air support is the solution to a beast like that but why me? I’m a kid, and Japan isn’t the kindest to the Quirkless.”

Kaiser refilled his mug and continued. “Japanese heritage and a new initiative, they’re allowing Quirkless people to join the U.A hero course. You won’t be joining the course, but U.A does want to work on the image of the Quirkless to the public. Officially, the client is principal Nezu. All jobs, provided they don’t go against Sicario’s interests, are approved by me.”

Izuku nodded before continuing his questions. “So, what’s the objective? The win condition? I’d rather not have to live in Japan for the rest of my life as a lapdog.”

Kaiser snorted and assured him. “Don’t you worry, U.A’s got a hangar just for you, and their support course is happy to service your equipment. You’ll have space for two jets, I’d recommend your warhorse and a VTOL. Remember, you’re not just representing Sicario, but Muerta too. Consider this a… Diplomat’s mission? I’ll recall you when I think the mission is done, or if Nezu sends you back. You head out in a couple days.”

Izuku didn’t deign to honour that with a response as Kaiser chuckled to himself. Eventually Izuku sighed and nodded in agreement. “I’ll head, but you’re getting me a pass to play in the air. Still got that contact with JAF right?”

They shook hands, and Izuku sighed and stood up, stretching out his back. “Perfect. By the way, get my funds to me, I wanna put an order in with requisitions. If I’ve got a vacation, might as well make it a good one.”

Kaiser chuckled as he leaned back in his chair once more. “I’ll have them in your company account by the time you’re awake, get some sleep. Sure you’ll want to spend a bit of time resting before you head out.”

_Three days later_

Izuku sighed, leaning back in his cockpit chair as he saw Japan approaching over the horizon. Amazingly it had managed to declare itself independent from the Pacific Federation thanks to Muerta’s influence sphere, and though it’s geothermal industry was weak, being confined to the Mt Fuji exclusion zone as opposed to Cascadia and the Scandic Territories’ widespread industry, it prospered thanks to it’s ability to trade with Muerta and the international market.

Suddenly a voice crackled to life through his radio. _“This is Musutafu Air Control, reduce your speed and identify yourself.”_

Izuku opened the radio and replied. _“This is Izuku Midoriya, callsign Deku, arriving from Sicario Mercenary group. I’ve got a contract with U.A University, client name under Nezu. You got my name on a whitelist?”_

There was a few seconds before the ATC replied. _“Yeah, we got you Deku. Take your current course until you reach your runway. And try not to give the people too much to talk about, yeah? Musutafu Air Control out.”_

Izuku chuckled as he slowed down to subsonic speeds before he entered the airspace over the city. Seeing the sprawling buildings and occasional skyscraper was nostalgic. Eventually he saw the four iconic buildings of U.A University and opened the pre-determined radio frequency. _“Anybody listening? Your cavalry has arrived, speak to me people.”_

The response came quickly. _“Deku, nice to meet you. Name’s Power Loader, we’re pinging your approach path. Come on in.”_

Izuku whistled as he followed the path marked out on his HUD. He could see a few people watching from the area next to the runway. It almost felt like he was at Sicario, but with less dust and firing drills. Coming into land, he rolled towards the new looking concrete hangar and parked inside. It was odd, he was so used to engineers swarming his jet the moment he landed, but it was eerily quiet instead.

Jumping out of the plane, he realized that it was nearly identical in layout to his hangar back at Sicario. Walking over to the locker area he took off his helmet and set it in one of the empty lockers before someone walked over to him. He was wearing some kind of metal exoskeleton, with massive digger claw hands. “Hey there! Name’s Power Loader, who does the sweet ride belong to?”

Izuku laughed, pulling off his flight suit as he responded. “Hey, look with your eyes pal, she’s mine. Izuku Midoriya, callsign Deku, nice to meet you Loader.”

The man sat down on one of the benches as Izuku rummaged around in one of the other lockers, finding some of his other clothes waiting for him. Without much compunction about decency, he began to dress himself. “It’s set out like your home base, shower’s over there and storage is in that direction. I’ll give you the tour later, first let’s get you met with your client.”

Izuku nodded, putting on a pair of sunglasses as they began to walk out of the hangar. “Are those necessary?”

Izuku chuckled as the two walked out into the sun, running a hand through his hair as the breeze caught him. Almost immediately an excited murmur covered the crowd of watching students, namely the female population as he explained. “Mercenary pilot bad boy, picked it up from my boss.”

Power Loader laughed as they began to walk towards the U.A building. “That’s one hell of a look I gotta admit. Think a guy like me could pull it off?”

They entered the building and Izuku took off his sunglasses, offering them to the man with a grin. “If you can get them look good on you with that mask on, they’re yours.”

Credit to Power Loader, he tried, but sighed as Izuku hid a grin while taking them back, tucking them back into his pocket. They reached a conference room and they walked inside. It seemed as if the entirety of the U.A staff were there, though sat at the head of the table was the rather unique visage of his client. “Ah, Mr Midoriya! I hear your entrance made quite the stir with our students?”

Izuku nodded as he sat down in one of the free chairs next to a man who seemed to be covered head to toe in bandages. “Good to meet you Mr Nezu, but please, Mr Midoriya’s fighting the good fight with the angels now. Call me Deku.”

Nezu nodded with a grin as Midnight began to salivate, and Vlad King had to stop her from rushing over the table. “Deku then, please, call me Nezu in turn. Everyone, introduce yourselves. You will be working together after all.”

They made their way around the table and Izuku remembered a few of their names vaguely. He was a hero nerd at one point after all. Leaning forward, he began. “It’s nice to meet you all. Now, onto business? This League of Villains, what should I look out for?”

Nezu smiled appreciatively. “Ah, such maturity at your age, it’s refreshing. Toshinori?”

The blond man who suspiciously had omitted his hero name explained with a frown. “It was tough, much tougher than a missile could handle. Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything that your weaponry could do against it.”

Izuku chuckled and replied, kicking his feet up as he challenged him. “Oh yeah? Word is All Might nearly got his teeth kicked in until first year students showed up to help, I think you could use all the help you can get.”

Toshinori seemed to get angry before Nezu held out a paw to stay him. “Deku, please, he is just unawares as to your skillset. Not to mention, in Japan, it’s unusual to see someone so young in a military organization.”

He sighed and shrugged. “That’s a shame, thought my name would be more well known, even in the domestic states. Just point me where I need to go, ‘kay?”

Nezu smiled, clapping his paws together as he explained. “Ah! Well, for your first job, you’ll be assisting in our Sports Festival.”

Izuku’s eye twitched, but only Aizawa could see it. “I… See. And there’s _nothing_ else I could do in the meantime?”

Nezu chuckled and replied knowingly. “I know this may not be the most exciting deployment you’ve had but consider the possibilities! You have U.A’s facilities and classes open to you, surely there must be something you can do to pass the time-“

Izuku was already slamming his head against the table, much to the concern of the rest of the staff. “Nothing!? Targets to bomb? Places to scout? _Escorting cargo!?”_

He shook his head and Izuku groaned and muttered. “I’m done for, I’m never going to hear the end of this. Dip and ‘Mick are off dancing above the clouds, and I’m here, helping with an egg and spoon race…”

His head continued to slam against the desk before he heard Mashima speak up. “You’ve got access to our support studio you know, you could do some tinkering? Your profile said you’re trained in maintenance.”

Izuku sighed and shook his head, explaining glumly. “I leave tinkering to the engineers, they know what’ll break and what won’t and I ain’t about to risk my wings. You guys got a range?”

Snipe grinned and replied. “Sure do pardner, you fancy yourself a gunslinger?”

Izuku wanted to cheer in jubilation at the news. “Not particularly, but it’ll give me something to do training-wise that ain’t cardio. Did all my stuff arrive Nezu?”

Nezu replied with a smile, glad that the head slamming had stopped. “All accounted for and in your room in Heights Alliance. We thought you’d do well there considering well… The name. As for the other jet you ordered, it is being shipped over, it should be here in time for the festival.”

He snorted and stood up, stretching out his back as he replied gratefully. “Good to hear, thanks. You know where to find me people, my door is always open.”

Vlad King needed Ectoplasm’s assistance to keep Midnight seated as Izuku stood up and walked out with Power Loader. There was a near immediate explosion of sound as the door closed behind them. All Might was the first to shout in incredulity. “Principal Nezu! You cannot seriously expect us to work with that mercenary!? They _kill_ , they cannot be trusted around our students!”

Nezu just smiled and sipped from a teacup. “Oh they’re all adults, his age actually. We must allow them to interact with him, and his presence will prove vital for intimidating the League of Villains. Besides, it’s good experience for them.”

Aizawa grumbled as he replied. “It’s logical but we don’t have to like it. Why again is he sleeping in the same dorm as my students?”

The animal sipped again, smiling devilishly as he replied. “Why, he already has a friend there.”

_An hour later_

Izuku looked up at his new quarters with a sigh, wondering if it was an option just to sleep in his hangar. He had the cash for it, and his cockpit was comfortable… Screw it, why was he scared of meeting a bunch of hero wannabes? Granted the last time he met someone who wanted to be a hero, she both bullied him and convinced him she was a boy for eight years.

Stepping inside, he took off his sunglasses and put them away as the menagerie of people looked over at him in surprise. A guy with blue hair and square rimmed glasses stood up and walked over, extending his hand with a mechanical precision that would make the Germans blush in shame. “Hello there! You must be the new occupant of Height’s Alliance. I am Tenya Iida, Class Representative for 1-A and overseer of this fine dormitory.”

Izuku smirked, this guy would’ve been chewed up and spit out at Sicario. “Izuku Midoriya, callsign Deku, Sicario Mercenary Group and it’s current ace. I’ll be stationed here on contract, so you’ll excuse me if I don’t attend classes with you.”

Iida’s eyes widened as he pushed his glasses up. “A mercenary? That is rather interesting, though it is true the USJ incident could warrent additional security.”

Another person jumped up from the lounge area and Izuku grinned. She had pink skin and a bubbly demeanour. “Heya Merc! Name’s Mina Ashido, nice to meetcha! So you’re the guy that flew here? Mind taking me up sometime?”

Izuku laughed as he crossed his arms with a raised eyebrow. “I g-LOC my WSO so much she transferred to another member of my flight, but I like a girl who loves a challenge.”

Mina giggled and rushed away, excitedly beginning to chat with three of the other girls at the lounge. Eventually he had been introduced to everyone except a blonde who was just staring at him with a gaped expression, and he walked over and waved his hand in front of her face curiously. “So, who’s the dumbass?”

They all took cover as the soon-to-be deceased mercenary insulted the firecracker of the class. Surprisingly, when they peered over their couches, they only saw one Katsumi Bakugo point to her face and ask. “Wait, you don’t recognize me Deku?”

Izuku’s eyes suddenly widened as he realized exactly who he was talking to. Frowning he took a step back and replied as he began to walk away. “Oh, Kacchan. Just my damn luck… Anyways, Majima said my room was top floor right hand side? If there’s anything you need, knock.”

He made his escape as Bakugo was sat stunned. After a few seconds, she lowered her hand and gripped onto the table angrily as Mina rushed over and asked excitedly. “Kacchan!? That was so adorable Bakugo! You two know each other? Summertime fling with a mercenary?”

Her efforts were met with a faceful of fiery nitroglycerin as she glared down at the now yelping Mina as she gripped her face in pain. “Shut the fuck up Racoon Eyes.”

Bakugo stood up and walked away up the right hand stairs as well, and Kyoka blinked in surprise as Mina bounced back and rushed towards her excitedly. “Kyoka! Use your quirk, let’s listen in on this! It’s so _juicy!”_

The girl in question shrugged and nodded, much to Iida’s consternation as the group of girls began to follow them up. Thankfully it seemed Mina’s room was right next to the Izuku’s, and they all piled in and Kyoka jammed one of her jacks into Mina’s wall as the other went to her phone to act as a speaker. _“… Look, I’ve just flown here. Give me a chance to relax before you try and take my arm off.”_

Kyoka’s eyes narrowed as the rest of the girls began muttering in confusion, it made it much harder for her to listen in. She found the mercenary pretty interesting, and not a little attractive though she didn’t expect he’d be interested in her. _“Deku, where the hell have you been for these past years? You just up and left, what happened? Mom was fucking crying, she never does that.”_

Kyoka blinked in surprise, so they _did_ have a shared past. _“Fine, I’ll give you a rundown, but let me work in peace after this alright? I’m on contract after all.”_

There was the sound of ruffling sheets as it seemed like Katsumi sat down. So she was willing to act comfortable around him… _“Started when my Dad’s flight came to tell Mom and I that he was dead. Sicario looks after the widows and their kids, so we got invited to go along and live in Muerta. I wanted in, Mom needed a job, so we moved there. At fourteen I joined Hitman team, and at sixteen I went on my first campaign. I love flying, music, Sicario and my mom. Questions?”_

Kyoka grinned when she heard his interests, this guy seemed alright. Katsumi was silent for a long time before she spoke up. _“Aunt Inko, is she alright?”_

There was a slight chuckle as Izuku replied. _“She’s doing well, I’ll pass along your regards. Anything else?”_

Katsumi seemed to be strangled as she admitted quietly. _“I… Missed you. You said your callsign was Deku? Was that-“_

Izuku cut her off with a scathing voice and it was a harsh turnabout from his previous tone. _“Missed me? What, as your Quirkless punching bag? Look we’ve just met again, I’m tired, my job here is as a fucking teaching assistant and I’m the only merc for miles around. If you still want to talk, catch me tomorrow. I need to make a report.”_

Katsumi didn’t respond, but there was a sudden stamping of feet and a door slammed open. Kyoka winced as she didn’t manage to retract her jacks in time. “Fine then! See if I care, you worthless fucking Deku!”

The stomping went down the hallway as Kyoka put her phone away, but put her jack back in curiously as Mina began gossiping with the rest of the girls excitedly. She leaned up against the wall as she heard the boy sigh and mutter to himself. _“Damn it, just got that door too…”_

Soon after, she heard the distinct click of a guitar case opening and suddenly her interest was piqued again. A soft plucking began to fill the room as she listened closely, and she couldn’t help but snort when she recognized the tune as the A.D era song ‘Somebody I Used to Know’. His voice wasn’t the best she’d ever heard, but she highly doubted he was trying hard.

Eventually she unplugged her jack and Momo filled in the hole with a drywall filler. She asked curiously as the rest of the girls continued to gossip. “Why did you continue listening? Did you hear anything?”

Kyoka nodded, explaining with a thoughtful expression. “Yeah, guy was singing. Looks like he has a guitar too, might need to see if I can compete with him.”

Momo giggled and replied, nudging her side with a smile. “I’d go for it, he strikes me as the type that recognizes talent. Still though, Quirkless, it’s quite impressive that U.A recognized his skill.”

That was true, being Quirkless was the most interesting thing about the merc. He had all the swagger of a pro hero, but the few Quirkless people she’d met had been much meeker. “I mean, if you weren’t as smart as you are you’d be effectively Quirkless. Not to mention, I’d rather have the guy who has a fighter jet and a mercenary empire behind him on my side thank you very much.”

Momo nodded along, accepting the point. Eventually the chatter died down and Momo stood up with a smile. “Alright everyone, I think our little eavesdropping party has gone on much too long. Shall we-“

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and a bemused voice spoke up from outside. “Police, we’ve got reports of six suspects eavesdropping on official business. Open the door and prepare for a search.”

Mina blanched before gulping, walking over to open the door as Tooru dived under the bed. Sure enough, the mercenary was standing outside with arms crossed and a frown on his face. “Yeah, little tip for next time, don’t immediately break out into chatter during an awkward silence. Carries through walls y’know.”

Momo stood up as the rest of the girls looked down sheepishly. “I’m very sorry Midoriya, we have no excuse for our actions. Please, if there’s anything we can do…?”

Izuku chuckled and looked over to her with a raised eyebrow. “A beauty like you offering ‘anything’? Risky. Rather, I want to know about the current state of U.A. Who’re the big names, the teachers and students to watch out for, that sort of thing.”

Momo yelped as she covered her chest defensively as Mina giggled, motioning for him to come inside. “Well if you want gossip, you can have it. But I _do_ want closure on you and your Kacchan.”

He stared down at her incredulously before sighing and sitting down next to Ochako, making the country girl blush nervously as she sat up ramrod straight. “Friends until we were four, though she was a guy. She got a quirk, I didn’t, she bullied me for the next four years until I moved out to Muerta. Forgot about her, but obviously she didn’t forget about me.”

That seemed perfectly unsatisfactory as Mina groaned and asked beseechingly. “That’s it? No hidden love affair?”

Izuku held back a laugh as he replied with a disbelieving expression. “I love four things and you heard all of them earlier.”

Mina sighed and continued curiously. “So, what kinda girl are you into?”

He shrugged and replied. “I don’t really know, never had a crush on anyone other than the hero reporter when I was seven. If I had to guess, someone with talent. Nothing sexier than a girl in her element after all.”

Mina, as well as Tooru and to a lesser extent Momo squealed as Izuku watched their reactions with amusement. He knew fine well that he’d only ever talked the talk with girls, but he liked to consider himself pretty confident after the other mercenary groups began whispering about poaching him. Eventually they sobered up and Mina began thoughtfully. “Well, there’s the Big Three who are the top hero students here. Todoroki is probably the strongest in the class, he’s got this crazy fire and ice quirk. Miss Nemuri is pretty intense sometimes, and Ectoplasm’s math class is so boring.”

Izuku frowned as he responded chidingly. “Hey, math has saved my ass on more than one occasion, don’t knock it.”

Momo nodded along with an approving voice. “Quite right, though I’d put it less crassly. Mathematics is incredibly useful in all walks of life.”

Mina groaned as she turned to Izuku for help. “Oh come on, even you’ve gotta admit that recurrence is basically useless!”

He grinned apologetically. “Nope, sorry, it’ll help. Had everything I needed for dogfighting down by the time I was fourteen and I owe my continued life on this planet to my Aunt Mizuka’s teaching style.”

Tsuyu tilted her head and asked curiously. “Teaching style? Was it intense Kero? Mr Aizawa threatens to expel us if we don’t do our best.”

Izuku nodded in approval as he responded. “Laps at the end of the day for failed questions, that or cutting the hours I’d be allowed to fly when I was still a kid. She was a hell of a taskmaster, but the results speak for themselves. I feel bad for the kid she’s got on the way, they’re gonna have a hell of a time of it.”

He smiled as he stood up and made for the door. “It was nice chatting, but this place is a bit too earthbound for my liking. Oh, and Purple?”

Kyoka looked up in surprise, she’d found herself lost in his eyes as he reminisced on how he’d been taught. He looked older than all of them when he spoke, more mature and weathered. “You hum well, let’s jam sometime.”

She probably never looked as red as she did in that moment as she buried her face in her hands, Izuku’s laughter ringing in her ears as he left the room. Immediately the girl was swarmed by the others as Tooru shouted excitedly. “You sly fox Kyoka! Already got that hunk asking for a date!”

Izuku smirked as he heard the explosion of noise behind him, at least they’d be fun to hang around. She probably didn’t realize that her humming transmitted through those headphone jacks and into his room. Walking back into his room, he grabbed his phone and dialled a number and put it to his ear. It went to voicemail but that served his purposes just fine. _“Hey Kaiser?”_

_“Fuck you.”_


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally living up to that mei tag

The sound the crowd on U.A’s campus was muffled inside of Izuku’s hangar as he went through a checklist, making sure that his new second-hand Accipiter was in working order. Majima walked in through the large door as people began to look in from the grassy hill curiously. He was pushing a hovering push trolley with two large crates on top of it, and Izuku pointed next to him and said gratefully. “Thanks Loader, just here. God the engi’s at home would kill me if they knew what I was about to do to this poor machine.”

He snorted and brought it over, and the crates slid off the trolley and onto the ground with a thud. “Just a second-hand VTOL would get you that? Speaking of which how the hell can you just order something like this at your age? Some of my students would kill to have access to that kind of capital and routes.”

Izuku nodded, grabbing a crowbar and tossing the checklist onto a nearby table. Opening the crate, he sighed in despair as he saw the soft rubber bullets in large pods and the military equivalent of sugar rockets full of adhesive. “Just back from campaign, and I’m not about to neuter my first jet and turn it into a toy. Here, give me a hand would you?”

Both he and Power Loader made their way around the hardpoints, filling them with the non-lethal variants of the original weaponry. They were done in short order and Izuku stretched out his back, though his partner frowned as he noticed one hardpoint they hadn’t touched. “Hey, that’s still got a lethal on it.”

Izuku shrugged and went over to the fridge he kept there. In the time he’d spent at U.A, he usually found himself just sitting in the hangar. The dormitory was way too loud for his tastes, and he even slept in his cockpit one night to escape from the noise. “Yeah, don’t want to be caught with my pants down if a Nomu shows up right? Don’t worry, I’ve checked it and it’s up to Sicario specifications, so it won’t discharge unless I tell it to.”

Power Loader caught the beer that Izuku threw over to him and he opened it with one of his large metal claws, taking a seat on the empty crate’s side as he did so. “Alright then. Sorry it’s just that I’m not used to seeing someone your age like… This. My students make tasers, glue guns and jump boots, not corpses. Though there’s a few explosions here and there, and that Hatsume wouldn’t know overkill if it bit her on the ass.”

Izuku undid the cap on his bottle of water and shrugged, he couldn’t really blame the man for his squeamishness. “I won’t disagree that we live in separate worlds. If I weren’t getting paid for this I’d be teaching pirates or Fed defectors why I’m Hitman Lead.”

Taking a long swig of water, Izuku began to prepare for his first mission from his new client. It was about ten minutes until the start of the Sports Festival in earnest, and he was going to be needed for all three days of it. Power Loader did his own check over the plane, namely the gun pod still carrying live ammo, before Izuku returned and clambered up into the cockpit.

Sitting down in it, he shifted the seat for a second, trying to find the perfect elevation before he stretched out his back. Majima looked at him in shock as he asked incredulously. “No flight suit? That’s bold.”

Izuku laughed and replied, cracking his neck as he grabbed the oxygen mask and put it around his mouth. “My genetics were kind to me quirklessness aside. This kind of funrun could be done in a bikini, but I’ll settle for tighty-whities. _Deku to Papa Bear, we’re ready on my end. Also change your callsign before I change it for you.”_

The radio spoke up in turn. _“Papa Bear to Deku we read you loud and clear, but I respectfully decline. This name is a classic and it’s not my fault you can’t appreciate it.”_

Izuku snorted and replied. _“Alright then Grizzly, what’s E.T.A on wheels up?”_

The canopy dropped as Nezu replied with a sigh. _“It’ll have to do… Opening ceremony is underway, get on the air and await further.”_

Izuku nodded and gave Majima a thumbs up before hitting the ignition. Rolling out onto the runway, he saw that most of the people who had been watching him had already made their way towards the stadium. Kicking up the throttle, he gently got airborne and sighed in relief as there hadn’t been any immediate catastrophic failures. Sure he was more perceptive of mistakes after Mitsuka’s insane teaching style but no-one was infallible.

Turning down the throttle to a leisurely few meters per second, he tuned into the Sports Festival broadcast and winced as he turned it down. _“And it’s the Obstacle Course! Are you ready to get excited people!? The contestants begin to make their way to the starting line!”_

He sighed and began rapping his fingers across his knee. Briefly he debated plugging in his MP3 player, but decided against it. If he got into the mood he might take it up too many notches and he doubted his client would like it if nobody made it to the finishing line. His radio crackled to life again, but it wasn’t Nezu this time, but instead a voice he’d been dreading. _“Hi Deku! Ready to play in the ball pit, or do you want your diaper changed first?”_

His groan only caused the entirety of Hitman on the other end to laugh uproariously before he heard a slap make Prez yelp in pain. _“Don’t listen to them Izuku, they’re just dreading actually doing some work in the air. Though, I have brought out the baby photos from when you wanted to go to hero school. Have you met All Might yet? If you ask nicely, I’m sure he’d sign your flight helmet.”_

Izuku replied derisively. _“Mom, I love you, but that was a lifetime away. In an astounding week of being here they’ve done the impossible and made me want to see Kaiser’s face.”_

Another voice spoke up amusedly. _“I’m flattered. Nezu, you’re on this frequency, right? When’s he heading on? We’ve got half of Sicario waiting to watch our Ace play with foam darts.”_

Nezu chuckled and spoke up happily. _“Ah you must all be his flight, a pleasure to meet you all. Deku please make your way to your starting co-ordinates and accelerate towards the course at 30.”_

Izuku did so and closed his eyes as he began to accelerate, flipping a few switches to enable his dummy weaponry. _“Alright weapons are hot and the track is in sight. Counting four robots, a popsicle and reading approximately forty on the track. Sign me in Grizzly. Oh, and guys, get off my frequency.”_

The line went dead as the radio broadcast began again. _“And it looks like the air support has arrived, the ace pilot of the Sicario Mercenary Group, Izuku Midoriya! Look out kids, it’s about to be a warzone down there!”_

Izuku snorted, they wouldn’t know a warzone if it shot an extra hole in their face. Flipping the safety cap off his firing pod, he lined up a familiar pink skinned girl and grinned as she looked back at him in terror. A quick soft buzz and she was on the ground, covered in little blue welts. _“And he claims his first victim, Mina Ashido! Watch out everyone, he’s out for blood!”_

Another three got hit by the buzz of rubber bullets and a group got covered in the adhesive rocket. His radio buzzed to life as he cruised around. _“Make your way to the canyons, let’s give our leaders something to do.”_

Izuku replied in an affirmative as he throttled up, moving towards the second part of the course. The canyons looked like they’d be a fun trench run at some point, but first, he had four targets in his sight. Bakugo blasting across the canyons with her explosions, Todoroki taking the lead by freezing one of the lines and skating across, Asui jumping from column to column and finally a pink-haired student he hadn’t seen before using what looked like a jet pack to get across. Well, good a place as any to start.

Getting her lined up in his sights, Izuku’s eyes widened when she suddenly turned around with what looked like a rocket launcher in her hands. It began to glow yellow, and he quickly rolled to avoid what looked like a laser spiking past his cockpit. He tried to move his rudder, only to grit his teeth when nothing happened. The pinkette jetpacked up onto his wing and waved to him and presented the now useless gun with pride. “This is a baby of my own making, the Railgun! Remember the name Mei Hatsume the next time you want some weaponry!”

Oh he would _absolutely_ remember that name. Giving her a thumbs up, he rolled, sending her flinging off into the air as her jet pack stabilized herself. She got on the way again as Izuku sighed and got used to not having his rudder. It had been a long time since he’d been hit by anything, much less ground ordinance, that was embarrassing.

But he wasn’t an ace for nothing. In short order he continued to pepper the lead group with bullets and rockets though Katsumi was able to blow most of them away and Todoroki made walls of ice to protect himself. Tsuyu did get hit a few times, but the adhesive didn’t seem to want to stick, and so he went back to harass the rest of the students. Eventually the first forty were called and it looked like Katsumi had managed to take first place.

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief as the radio broadcast began again. _“And with Mina Ashido, we have our forty contestants! Those that didn’t make it through, don’t worry, we have some filler games during the lunch break! Now then, to our eye in the sky! What do you think of our contestants today Deku?”_

He was a bit shocked when the frequency opened to him but Izuku replied nonetheless, hovering over the stadium. _“Some good talent outside the hero course today, I’d call my favourite to win Hatsume.”_

The crowd began chattering excitedly at that declaration as Present Mic replied happily. _“Really!? What a turn of events ladies and gentlemen, it looks like a personal endorsement of Mei Hatsume from 1-H from the Ace pilot of Sicario! Any other thoughts?”_

Izuku pulled off his oxygen mask, sighing in relief. He was low enough to the ground, and if he didn’t go too fast he’d be fine. _“Bakugo and Todoroki did well but focused too much on each other, and Asui was a surprise contender. Again, Hatsume managed to hit me and disabled my rudder thanks to my carelessness. I’d keep an eye on her, seems she’s got plenty of tricks up her sleeves.”_

He cut his connection and made his way back towards his hangar. Rolling back inside, he hopped out and ran a hand through his hair with a smile, that had been more fun than he’d imagined. Mei Hatsume, that gun was _insane_ , he’d love something like that on his F/D. Not to mention she wasn’t exactly hard on the eyes.

Fetching his repair kit he grabbed a step-ladder and made his way up to the damaged area. It had torn a large clean hole in the entire assembly, and after a few minutes he had managed to take off the affected area. A droid came in and Izuku gently stepped down, handing it over to the robot as he assessed the rest of the craft. It looked fine for the most part and he walked over to grab a beer before walking outside, knocking it down with a sigh. If there was one thing to be said for Japan, their alcohol was much better than Muerta’s unregulated breweries.

Walking towards the stadium, he made his way up to the teacher’s box and stepped inside. Nezu turned to him with a welcoming smile as he greeted. “Ah, Deku, I’m surprised to see you. Has our egg and spoon race grown on you?”

Izuku snickered as he took a seat, leaning back and taking another sip. “Shut it Grizzly, you’re smart, you know who I’m here for.”

Nezu nodded as Power Loader crossed his arms with a grin. “Mei Hatsume’s one of mine, you don’t know how much you’ve just kickstarted her career. Maybe she’ll stop making things explode now that she has some clout already…”

Izuku raised his eyebrow and replied amusedly. “Kickstarted? If she can mount that thing to a jet she could be the head researcher for the PF’s military science division. The hell is she here sewing costumes?”

Power Loader frowned at the insinuation. “We do a little more than costume repairs, and she wants to start her own support equipment company. ‘Hatsume Industries will be a household name’ she says.”

Izuku laughed and nodded appreciatively as the Cavalry Battle was explained. “Not if I get to her first, that Railgun would make my flight green with envy.”

They all fell silent as the Cavalry Battle got underway. Izuku, true to his word, basically only followed Mei as she teamed up with Ochako and Tokoyami. True to form she had all sorts of weaponry and gadgets and Izuku near salivated at the array of creativity. Nezu watched him out of the corner of his eye curiously, making a note of his expression.

The cavalry battle finished with Bakugo taking first place, and Izuku held back a cheered when he saw Mei’s team scrape into sixth place. The recreational games began, and he stretched out his back as he stood up, much to Nezu’s amusement. “So where are you off to? Though I think I have an idea.”

Izuku snorted and looked at him bemusedly. “You don’t say? Early bird gets the worm, or in my case, gets access to that beauty.”

He didn’t even realize that he could’ve been talking about either the Railgun or Mei, but Nezu certainly did as he chuckled and waved him off. Izuku made his way outside as Power Loader sighed and spoke up beseechingly. “Can’t we stop him Sir? I have a suspicion he’ll only enable her to make even more destructive equipment. My poor studio can’t take much more.”

Nezu just sipped from his ever-present teacup and replied chidingly. “Now Majima, that’s no way to speak about your student. I think those two will be good for each other. _Really_ good for each other if you catch my drift.”

Sure enough, Izuku was standing just across from one Mei Hatsume as the rest of the student body watched with bated breath. The two of them began running at each other, and Izuku bowed his head and extended his hand as she got close. “Be mine!”/”Let me be your baby maker!”

They both looked up at each other in a mix of shock and excitement as the rest of the student body choked, wondering what they had just borne witness to. Izuku was too happy to care though as Mei clasped his hand and shook it happily. “Izuku Midoriya, Sicario Mercenary Group. That thing was insane, scan you mount it to my main jet?”

Mei hummed and pulled out the wreckage of the Meilgun, ejecting a small cell from it. “Yessiree! Mei Hatsume, support engineer extraordinaire. It uses a cordium charge to super-magnetize a coil that superheats a plasma charge and sends it up to ten kilometres. I can only do this with my school license, but once I’m fully-“

Izuku shook his head, putting his hand away as he replied. “Nope, you just agreed to be my engineer. If I run this by my boss, he’ll get you under Sicario’s WMD agreement and we’ve got a rating of 4 so you can go up to two kilograms in energy gen. You, my dear, just focus on making me the happiest pilot in the skies. One hundred thousand for this job, twenty thousand for your labour.”

She grinned and was dancing from one foot to the other in excitement, doing frankly wonderful things to her chest as she suddenly turned to the crowd. “You got it! Hey, Teach!”

The umpire turned from where she’d been watching thirstily as Mei said happily. “I’m withdrawing from the tournament; I’ve got what I needed from it. Come on bossman, we’ve got a baby to make!”

Izuku coughed to hide his embarrassment as the rest of the crowd began to chatter excitedly. They made their way towards the hangar as Mei hummed happily, near skipping as she went. “Hey, by making babies, you mean inventions, right? Why would you want my help?”

She looked up and down before shrugging and replying, and Izuku couldn’t help but blush when he captivated by her crosshair iris’. This girl was doing things to him that he could never let his flight know about. “Yeah? What about it? I reckon we could make some really cute babies together.”

Izuku looked to the side, wondering exactly what had happened to his confidence. “I-I mean, I wouldn’t say no to making a ‘baby’ with you, but what can I do to help? My skills end at maintenance and safety.”

Mei grinned and turned to him, walking backwards to face him as they continued to walk. “Perfect, ‘cause I suck at that! See, already filling each other’s gaps, we’re made for making babies together!”

Amazingly it seemed as if she didn’t realize what she was saying, and Izuku only just managed to spot the stairs leading down to the runway as she continued to walk backwards. Just as she fell backwards, a surprised expression on her face, he reached out and grabbed the front of her P.E uniform by the neck.

She grinned as Izuku tried to ignore the sound of ripping coming from her clothes. “Thanks bossman! Safety expert indeed!”

He pulled her back up quickly, helping right her, but winced when he heard the ripping get much worse. Looking to the side pre-emptively to preserve her honour, he gaped when he heard her say non-chalantly. “Huh, better get this thing off.”  
  
There was the sound of more ripping and Izuku covered his eyes and shouted in surprise. “M-Mei!? What’re you doing!?”

She replied curiously. “What? I have another layer on under this thing, being naked usually gets kicked out of the support studio and that gets in the way of babymaking.”

Izuku sighed in relief and turned back, only for his nose to begin leaking blood as she continued to take off the uniform. True, there was a layer underneath, but she could’ve told him it was a low-cut tank-top that didn’t cover her midriff! Then again, he wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Mei gasped in relief as she managed to get the rest of the uniform off and tied it’s remains around her waist before continuing on her way.

Izuku stumbled to keep up with her and they made their way down to the hangar. She whistled appreciatively as she looked around the spacious area. Izuku pointed to the right side of the hangar, explaining. “You can take over there if you want, it’s completely free. Anyways, what should-“

He was cut off as she walked over to his F/D, inspecting it with an appreciative eye. “Ooh, fancy! Yeah, I can totally work with this if I gut the engine and replace it with a burst cordium battery array…”

Okay, yeah, safety was definitely not her strong suit. Izuku walked up next to her and spoke up. “Request fed cyclic cordium reactor; I’d rather have a chance at an ejection.”

Mei blinked and turned to him excitedly. “Oh yeah, that would totally work too! We could even have a nitro button that injects an inducing catalyst, I could send you to the moon with that kind of power! Ooh! I could up my range to twenty five kilometers, but I could also make it a low range burst…”

Izuku shrugged and offered. “We could have both, there’s multiple hardpoints for a-“

He was cut off as she got into his face, shouting back excitedly. “Both! You’re totally right, I could easily feed the ammunition pellets into either barrel like that! We’re going to be the best of friends bossman just wait and see!”

Izuku blinked as he suddenly got a much better look at her iris’ before grinning and putting a hand on her hip, putting a little distance between them. After all, he _really_ didn’t want her figuring out that there was an extra hardpoint extending in his trousers. “I have no doubt, and call me Izuku, I ain’t your boss.”

She frowned as she replied nervously, hopping from foot to foot again. “I suck at names though; can I call you… Hmm…”

He was a little surprised by her sudden nervousness, was she self-conscious about that little misgiving? Or was it that she was scared she’d lose her contract? “Don’t worry about it Crosshair, call me what you want.”

Mei looked at him in surprise before thinking for a second and replying, pointing a finger between his nose. “Alright, you’re… Zuzu!”

Izuku laughed lightly and nodded with a smile, she really wasn’t fair. Pretty, fun _and_ could work cordium into a goddamn railgun? “Then Zuzu I shall be. I’m going to get to work cleaning up the Accipiter for tomorrow’s festival, do you have anything you need right now?”

She stepped back and replied happily. “I’m just going to go and get my stuff from the support studio, I’ll be back lickity split!”

He watched her go with a smile before chuckling, grabbing onto his face and looking down in amazement. How the hell did she manage to do that? Sighing, he walked away, only to find himself involuntarily frowning as a breeze washed away the light smell of engine oil and sweat that he had unconsciously began to associate with her.

Oh Gods above that was a sign wasn’t it…

Izuku got to work installing the rudder which had been delivered by U.A’s droids, only to nearly drop his spanner on his head when he heard Mei return. She walked over as a droid carried another stack of crates behind her. “Heya! I’m going to get to work on designing our baby, you got the schematics for that jet to hand?”

He shook his head and replied, supporting the weight of the rudder with not a little amount of effort. “’Fraid not. Mind coming up here and giving me a hand in the meantime?”

Mei bounced up the ladder and stood on the platform next to him, and Izuku steadied himself as her breasts pushed into his back as she began to install the rudder for him. Eventually she was done and giggled as she began happily. “Everyone in my class were so jealous that I get to make babies for you, sucks to be them eh? They all knew you had a bunch of cash for investment.”

Izuku tried his best to ignore the feeling of her pillows pressing into his back as he replied with a gulp, trying to keep his mind on the straight and narrow. “H-How could they know that?”

Mei shrugged and replied innocently. “No clue, they just said you probably had a ‘big one’ so I just guessed they meant back account. I mean I’ve got one hundred thousand in development funds so they weren’t wrong, I’m so excited for my first contract!”

Her scent had already begun to tickle his nose alluringly as Izuku kept his back firmly to her, wondering why in the hell she wasn’t trying to get down the ladder yet. “Y-Yeah? I mean, that’s just development funds, you’re getting twenty thousand for labour as well.”

She leaned in closer to him for whatever reason and said with a happy giggle that some may have called crazy, but Izuku had a very different impression. “Yeah, but _one hundred thousand in development funds!_ I could make thousands of babies with that kind of cash! But I get to spend it _all_ on one big beautiful baby and I even have an assistant to make sure it doesn’t explode. Us student engineers would kill for those kinds of rates.”

He nodded in understanding. Sicario took his restock from his check before he got paid, and he wasn’t exactly buying many of the luxuries that Diplomat and Comic were given to. While he was able to afford giving her that amount, it was still about a fifth of his net worth. “Well make it count and I’ll introduce you to the rest of Sicario. My boss Kaiser always said talent is king and this project will prove you have it. Anyways, let’s get down, I need to make some calls.”

Mei hopped down the ladder and went over to where her equipment was as Izuku went over to grab his satellite phone. Sitting down, he called Kaiser and didn’t even have a chance to speak before the man said hurriedly. _“Name, age and IIN and I’ll get her signed on as a contractor.”_

Izuku snorted, leaning back against the wall as he replied. _“I’ll get them to you by tonight local, but I’ve gotten a spoken agreement to mount that bad boy on my F/D for one hundred twenty. Speaking of which, have ground crew send me the full diagram of both my F/D and Accipiter.”_

Kaiser jotted something down before continuing. _“That thing looked insanely destructive, and we can’t let ourselves fall behind the PF can we? I’m subsiding fifty of that from business expenses, it’s looking like we’re going to be off the coast of Florida for a month dealing with some PF rogues so we’ve got cash. So? What’s she like?”_

He peered over to see her carrying a bunch of what looked like workstation parts over to the empty area of the hangar. _“Unique but that could be because my normal is you. Otherwise we’re getting along nicely, I don’t suspect any problems until we actually need to load the thing with cordium, in which case I’ll take her down under and we can finish it in Muerta.”_

Kaiser chuckled before replying. _“I eagerly await your arrival then, it’ll be nice meeting the young woman who caught your eye. Speaking of which, try and become friendly with her-“_

Mei’s voice suddenly called over the hangar, echoing tauntingly around him as if the hangar itself knew what it was doing. “Hey! When can we start making this baby!? I wanna get started already!”

Izuku looked up at her in shock before turning back to the phone and went to shout an explanation, only to despair when he saw that the line had already gone dead. He was never going to hear the end of this…


End file.
